This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://curi.us/2554-do-you-actually-want-to-make-progress
Try to figure out why people are so passive and lacking in values, and try to solve that problem which is very foreign to me, even though they don’t want me to solve that problem and will not help me (they aren’t opposed to me solving it either; they don’t know how to particularly care).
I think that was part of the problem for me. It’s not that I didn’t want to make progress. I just also wanted to spend my free time playing video games, watching TV or hanging out with friends.
I never gave up on making progress though. I just didn’t feel that posting here would especially help me. I didn’t usually run into issues trying to analyze or understand things. It was more a problem with motivation to work on the necessary next steps.
I know that you’re a niche content creator and if I want you to continue I need to interact with your content. I also recently purchased your grammar videos even though you’ve already provided substantial free resources for learning grammar.
I think a big help has been reading Atlas Shrugged (even though I’m only 100 pages in). You (Elliot) remind me of Dagny Taggart. When I think of letting you (or Dagny) down, I know it’s wrong. You deserve better.
You don’t run into issues that you see. But when I read your posts/arguments/analysis, I see many flaws. It looks to me like (as with most people) you need to practice less complex skills. Reading things and self-evaluating that you understand them well usually doesn’t work very well for people.
Thanks for your feedback. In honesty I don’t spend any of my free time thinking or worrying about animal welfare. It’s more that I saw nobody responded to your Animal Welfare Overview and I thought it would be fun to try writing about a difficult topic. Like when you exercise and try for a max weight for 1-3 repetitions.
Most of my time is spent practicing grammar, so I’m not sure how much more basic I can go than that. I also like to read Atlas Shrugged and your writing. I especially like your article on liberalism, which I have read many times. As you mention in your recent articles, we shouldn’t move on from something when we just barely understand it. It’s better to aim for 100% conscious mastery before incorporating it into our subconscious and moving on. It’s important to avoid missing small errors because they will cause problems in the foundation of our “knowledge skyscraper” later on.
Also, last time I wrote a post about gender identity (which likely involved some overreach) you gave me some valuable feedback:
This made me realize I should read more about Yes or No Philosophy.
And this is what made me start practicing grammar and purchase your videos.
Is it sometimes useful to try something too hard for you to help expose your weaknesses?
This is not accurate. Most of my philosophy related time is spent reading (which I find fun and relaxing), but when I want to do more active learning I focus on grammar.
I think I sometimes actively avoid making progress by going down YouTube rabbit holes. I have some idea about why I like watching lots of YouTube but I don’t know why I exclude making progress on activity based things. I don’t think I have the introspective skills to figure it out yet.
Maybe I should practice having fun while doing activities. I could practice trying to recognize micro-improvements and micro-successes to build up some self-esteem.