Thanks for this comment. I was both very moved by this post and unwilling to lean into it due to fears I couldn't articulate.  "fear of being eaten" is a pretty good match for what I was feeling, and having read the post I feel much more able to distinguish shadowmoth situations from being-eaten situations.

Some aspects that seem important to me for distinguishing between the two:

• do you actually want the goal that struggling is supposed to bring you closer to? Did you choose it, or was it assigned to you? how useful is the goal to the non-helper?
• how much work is the non-helper saving themselves by refusing to help you? In the shadowmoth case it was hurting the non-helper, which makes not-helping more likely to be genuinely for the moth's benefit. 
• is the struggling recurring indefinitely, or is there some definitive endpoint? or at least, a gradual graduation to a higher class of problem?
• can you feel something strengthening as you struggle?
• is there reason to believe you'll eventually be capable of doing the thing?
• is this goal the best use of your limited energy? maybe someone should help you out of this cocoon so you can struggle against a more important one. 
• are you going into freeze response? 

I agree with your examples and larger point. That was a gloss I was never happy with but can't quite bring myself to remove. I was hoping to articulate the reasons better than this but so far they're eluding me. 

Remember the proof that humans can't get high scores playing pinball because 'chaos theory'? 

Can you point to where the post says this? Because I read it as saying "It is impossible to predict a game of pinball for more than 12 bounces in the future" and "Professional pinball players try to avoid the parts of the board where the motion is chaotic."

what I want for rationality techniques is less a tutor and more of an assertive rubber duck walking me through things when capacity is scarce. 

I bet Jeff Bezos was like "okay I bet I could make an online bookstore that worked", was also thinking "but, what if I ultimately wanted the Everything Store? What are obstacles that I'd eventually need to deal"

I've heard Jeff Bezos was aiming for Everything Store from the beginning, and started with books because they have a limited range of sizes. 

People who think my premise is faulty: please give your arguments under this thread. 

I disagree with the sibling thread about this kind of post being “low cost”, BTW; I think adding salience to “who blocked whom” types of considerations can be subtly very costly.

I agree publicizing blocks has costs, but so does a strong advocate of something with a pattern of blocking critics. People publicly announcing "Bob blocked me" is often the only way to find out if Bob has such a pattern. 

I do think it was ridiculous to call this cultish. Tuning out critics can be evidence of several kinds of problems, but not particularly that one. 

Curation notice: a good old fashion fact post. It's relevant, detailed, and legibly written.

Continuing the list...

• mother can't be separated from the baby for longer than it takes them to get hungry, and must handle every nighttime wakeup. In the newborn phase that can be every 1-3 hours.
• you can get around this by pumping, but this has its own costs. Pumping is uncomfortable to painful, time consuming, and then has all the inconvenience of formula feeding and then some (like maintaining a cold chain, and more steps requiring sterilization).  It's also a hardcore logistical puzzle to get as much stored milk as possible without underfeeding your infant in the moment. The best solutions are the least convenient to the mother. 
• and this is all pretty best case scenario. Lots of women or their babies have medical impediment or just don't produce enough milk, even on medication.
• some babies suck at breastfeeding and need a bottle. you could always pump and bottle feed, but as we covered, pumping has its own cost. 
• some women need medications that are contraindicated by breastfeeding.

None of this contradicts the evidence that breastfeeding is beneficial, or easier for some people. But the frame should be "this is (usually) a sacrifice that we want to quantify the benefits of, to figure out if it's worth it" not "hey, free value!"