This is the public group rationality diary for November 1-15.
It's a place to record and chat about it if you have done, or are actively doing, things like:
Established a useful new habit
Obtained new evidence that made you change your mind about some belief
Decided to behave in a different way in some set of situations
Optimized some part of a common routine or cached behavior
Consciously changed your emotions or affect with respect to something
Consciously pursued new valuable information about something that could make a big difference in your life
Learned something new about your beliefs, behavior, or life that surprised you
Tried doing any of the above and failed
Or anything else interesting which you want to share, so that other people can think about it, and perhaps be inspired to take action themselves. Try to include enough details so that everyone can use each other's experiences to learn about what tends to work out, and what doesn't tend to work out.
Thanks to cata for starting the Group Rationality Diary posts, and to commenters for participating.
Whenever I left home after making a cooked breakfast, I would worry that I'd left the gas on. I'd always have to go back and check, but of course the burner was off. I've fixed this by noticing that I have noticed that I've turned off the gas. Is there a common name for this pattern?
One technique I read somewhere is doing something unusual (like reciting a line from a song or rubbing both ears) while you do the thing you'll want to remember, so that you'll only need to ask yourself "Did I rub my ears?" instead of "Did I turn off the stove?"
I don't know if there is a name for this, but I've heard of people who take a time-stamped picture of the stove just before they leave, to help them cope with an OCD symptom like that. It is somewhat better than the old approach of carrying an iron with you to avoid worrying whether you turned it off :)
This is the public group rationality diary for November 1-15.
Thanks to cata for starting the Group Rationality Diary posts, and to commenters for participating.
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