Category: Human Behavior and Cognitive Science

SELF AUTHORING – SUPPRESSION OF MALINTUITION

(suppression of the influence of cognitive biases)

(repost)

—“Q: Hey Curt, do you have a thought on the use of self-affirmations to create change in the self? For example, do you consciously talk positively with yourself with the intent on changing your own perception (personal narrative) ? Or do you think such a practice of positive self-affirmation can be used as an effective way of changing one’s personal narrative?”—

Yes, that’s the essence of self authoring and stoicism is a formal approach to it.

Yes it works. Although you can only change to what is true and good from what is false and not good.

Most of the time I try to talk myself into either:

1 – ‘Be kind; be overly kind; they are only children, and doing the best they can in life.’ (It is very hard to control the autistic urge to anger and to punish perceived stupidity)

or

2 – ‘Keep going no matter what, no matter how hard, you always win in the end”

or

3 – “You can’t change that, and don’t need to, just do better in the future.”

or

4 – “People think about you a lot less than you imagine, and generally better than you imagine, so don’t worry about it”.

And those are things everyone probably needs to do. I don’t have the problem of ‘don’t take it personally’. I’m not agreeable enough to be affected by others. when they are wrong, only when I have been wrong.

I have a lot of guilt about my occasionally losing tolerance for mortals and losing battle with my autism and hurting or disappointing people I care about; my divorce and one other relationship i should have handled better (i was very ill in both circumstances); underperforming for my investors. And the only one of those I can fix is my investors.

cheers

(edit)

The only thing I would add is “What is the worst that can happen?” I think this is the advice people thank me for the most. If we are too concerned with failure to take risks that do not harm us,then we unnecessarily pass on opportunities for success. People forgive failure in pursuit of moral ends. failure in and of itself if costing nothing harmful or immoral is a good thing – we learn from it.