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You know that feeling when you change your mind, going from being inside one worldview to moving into another? That sensation is fantastic for thinking in general; if you can fluidly move between "believing" and "not believing" two sides to a debate, it can help clarify a lot.

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Aella

@Aella_Girl

And I don't mean straw-man believing, like "I can imagine those people being idiots". I mean actually handling the issue with the sensation of being inside it, like it's yours, like it *makes sense* to see it from your point of view. A little part of you has to actually buy in.

5:58 PM · Dec 29, 2020

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I've started doing that more and more this year, with greater effect. When I first recognized I was doing it I was afraid I'd lost sight of the shore in my adventure to see other points of view, but it's become a fascinating practice I'm glad to have developed

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I really like the opposite of straw-manning. Steel-manning. Where you try to make the other side’s argument as strong as possible to really understand it.

Harvaticus Gogglemeister IX

@Piecupine

Dec 29, 2020

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@Aella_Girl

It's a really weird dissociative feeling. Sort of like an epiphany but different because you can feel your brain resisting part of all of it while simultaneously grokking it.

Camilo Moreno-Salamanca

@camilomoresala

Dec 29, 2020

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@Aella_Girl

I struggle with the consequences whenever I do these reflections since a part of me has to buy in, I feel like my convictions are not very strong, and then I go down the rabbit hole of double/triple checking my assumptions. Exhausting.

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“the sensation of being inside it, like its yours” --> the sensation of being like when it is inside you, like you have had a genuine insight

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I do this a lot and it's valuable but leaves me confused, because while internal complexity is useful, it can make it difficult to act.

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I think this becomes more natural the more creative you are at fleshing out the narrative landscape of others' lifes, in general. The more you can see, smell/ recreate the sensory inputs of that person's world, like starring in the movie of their life, you believe them

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That's a pretty rare skill, and very useful for sure.

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I know exactly what you mean. I think it’s unfortunate that this is even necessary. But it is. Beliefs often become integral to our own identity. This causes us to see them and defend them with a charity we could never muster were we to just view them as a claim to be examined.

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Most of you are too young for his early work, but David Kelley, in shows like LA Law and Picket Fences, made a point of writing utterly convincing arguments on both sides of numerous issues. I suspect he chose issues where he could have this experience.