Skip to content
  • Home Home Home, current page.
  • Moments Moments Moments, current page.

Saved searches

  • Remove
  • In this conversation
    Verified accountProtected Tweets @
Suggested users
  • Verified accountProtected Tweets @
  • Verified accountProtected Tweets @
  • Language: English
    • Bahasa Indonesia
    • Bahasa Melayu
    • Català
    • Čeština
    • Dansk
    • Deutsch
    • English UK
    • Español
    • Filipino
    • Français
    • Hrvatski
    • Italiano
    • Magyar
    • Nederlands
    • Norsk
    • Polski
    • Português
    • Română
    • Slovenčina
    • Suomi
    • Svenska
    • Tiếng Việt
    • Türkçe
    • Ελληνικά
    • Български език
    • Русский
    • Српски
    • Українська мова
    • עִבְרִית
    • العربية
    • فارسی
    • मराठी
    • हिन्दी
    • বাংলা
    • ગુજરાતી
    • தமிழ்
    • ಕನ್ನಡ
    • ภาษาไทย
    • 한국어
    • 日本語
    • 简体中文
    • 繁體中文
  • Have an account? Log in
    Have an account?
    · Forgot password?

    New to Twitter?
    Sign up
backus's profile
John Backus
John Backus
John Backus
@backus

Tweets

John Backus

@backus

Seeking alternative compression. Hopefully wrong on average. Shameless. Started @getcognito and @bloom

San Francisco, CA
Joined August 2012

Tweets

  • © 2018 Twitter
  • About
  • Help Center
  • Terms
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies
  • Ads info
Dismiss
Previous
Next

Go to a person's profile

Saved searches

  • Remove
  • In this conversation
    Verified accountProtected Tweets @
Suggested users
  • Verified accountProtected Tweets @
  • Verified accountProtected Tweets @

Promote this Tweet

Block

  • Tweet with a location

    You can add location information to your Tweets, such as your city or precise location, from the web and via third-party applications. You always have the option to delete your Tweet location history. Learn more

    Your lists

    Create a new list


    Under 100 characters, optional

    Privacy

    Copy link to Tweet

    Embed this Tweet

    Embed this Video

    Add this Tweet to your website by copying the code below. Learn more

    Add this video to your website by copying the code below. Learn more

    Hmm, there was a problem reaching the server.

    By embedding Twitter content in your website or app, you are agreeing to the Twitter Developer Agreement and Developer Policy.

    Preview

    Why you're seeing this ad

    Log in to Twitter

    · Forgot password?
    Don't have an account? Sign up »

    Sign up for Twitter

    Not on Twitter? Sign up, tune into the things you care about, and get updates as they happen.

    Sign up
    Have an account? Log in »

    Two-way (sending and receiving) short codes:

    Country Code For customers of
    United States 40404 (any)
    Canada 21212 (any)
    United Kingdom 86444 Vodafone, Orange, 3, O2
    Brazil 40404 Nextel, TIM
    Haiti 40404 Digicel, Voila
    Ireland 51210 Vodafone, O2
    India 53000 Bharti Airtel, Videocon, Reliance
    Indonesia 89887 AXIS, 3, Telkomsel, Indosat, XL Axiata
    Italy 4880804 Wind
    3424486444 Vodafone
    » See SMS short codes for other countries

    Confirmation

     

    Welcome home!

    This timeline is where you’ll spend most of your time, getting instant updates about what matters to you.

    Tweets not working for you?

    Hover over the profile pic and click the Following button to unfollow any account.

    Say a lot with a little

    When you see a Tweet you love, tap the heart — it lets the person who wrote it know you shared the love.

    Spread the word

    The fastest way to share someone else’s Tweet with your followers is with a Retweet. Tap the icon to send it instantly.

    Join the conversation

    Add your thoughts about any Tweet with a Reply. Find a topic you’re passionate about, and jump right in.

    Learn the latest

    Get instant insight into what people are talking about now.

    Get more of what you love

    Follow more accounts to get instant updates about topics you care about.

    Find what's happening

    See the latest conversations about any topic instantly.

    Never miss a Moment

    Catch up instantly on the best stories happening as they unfold.

    1. John Backus‏ @backus Apr 19

      Does personal knowledge about psychology or rationality actually help with large or small personal decision making? Seems like a premise of learning about cognitive biases, LessWrong, etc.

      4 replies 1 retweet 11 likes
      Show this thread
    2. John Backus‏ @backus Apr 19

      People who influenced my thoughts here: @rsnous for putting this question in my head in the first place @ctbeiser for concrete argument against: https://web.archive.org/web/20170916053902/http://cbeiser.me/on-time-free-theories-of-decision-making/ … @gwern tangential argument that sunk cost fallacies specifically might not apply to individuals

      1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
      Show this thread
    3. John Backus‏ @backus Apr 19

      Just going to throw out some ideas Well studied violations of rationality may pop up regularly for individuals, but most of it is about truth seeking and being more correct. There may be very few cases where a clear cognitive bias can be squashed while making personal decisions.

      1 reply 0 retweets 2 likes
      Show this thread
    4. John Backus‏ @backus Apr 19

      Lets say that LW rationality addressable problems do pop up in individual decision making. It could be that intuitive gut feelings integrate your values and priorities well. Overriding gut feelings in order to excise a bias you identified might throw you off more than you fixed

      2 replies 0 retweets 2 likes
      Show this thread
    5. Julia Galef‏Verified account @juliagalef Apr 20
      Replying to @backus

      This is a good criticism of what LW sometimes calls "Straw rationality", but LW rationality itself is very focused on the question of figuring out what gut feelings mean and using them wisely in judgment/decision-making

      1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
      John Backus‏ @backus Apr 20
      Replying to @juliagalef

      Treating intuition as starting prior is one of my fave aspects of LW, didn't mean to frame as straw rationality. Reframe: When extending intuition with rationality, maybe the result is a less familiar place that net hurts ability to decide?

      2:11 PM - 20 Apr 2018
      1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
        1. New conversation
        2. John Backus‏ @backus Apr 20
          Replying to @backus @juliagalef

          Ex: Lukewarm on potential hire after interview. Leaning towards passing but I recognize my perception is tainted because I wanted to end interview during because I have a lot of work and I find the median interview boring. Can't spend more time interviewing. Am I better off?

          1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
        3. John Backus‏ @backus Apr 20
          Replying to @backus @juliagalef

          Also if it isn't obvious where the LW rationality fits into that example, I'm mainly thinking that 1. I'd be labeling the desire to stop early as motivated stopping 2. My desire to stop the interview would introduce confirmation bias where I'm looking for reasons to pass

          1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
        4. Catherine Olsson‏ @catherineols Apr 20
          Replying to @backus @juliagalef

          Here's what my personal-idiosyncratic-inner-CFAR-voice says about this situation: 1. If your company's interview process only yields good results when employees exert willpower/insight to notice biases and manually correct, the whole process is too brittle. ...

          1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
        5. Catherine Olsson‏ @catherineols Apr 20
          Replying to @catherineols @backus @juliagalef

          1... Noticing that your boredom is shaping your decision, which in turn could throw the overall decision, is extremely valuable. But it's an insight about the *whole setup*. This one choice is so small compared to the fact that every interview at your company is at risk of this.

          1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
        6. Catherine Olsson‏ @catherineols Apr 20
          Replying to @catherineols @backus @juliagalef

          1. Your company should collect enough complementary signals that one interviewer's boredom won't swing the whole call. You could make interviews less boring. 2. In fact, that's a great question. Why *are* those interviews so boring? Get curious about that. ...

          1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
        7. Catherine Olsson‏ @catherineols Apr 20
          Replying to @catherineols @backus @juliagalef

          2... Boredom is often S1 telling you that something isn't worth your time, and is often 100% correct. In this hypothetical, your interview might in fact be providing *zero* useful signal about the candidate's future performance. So deciding bc "I'm bored" may not be any worse!

          1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
        8. Catherine Olsson‏ @catherineols Apr 20
          Replying to @catherineols @backus @juliagalef

          CFAR rationality says kind of the opposite of "1. notice what you're doing, 2. slap a label on it by pattern-matching to the nearest Cognitive Bias, 3. apply standard de-biasing". Instead: "1. Notice 2. Get really curious. 3. ...no I mean REALLY curious. Listen! 4. Keep going!!"

          1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
        9. Catherine Olsson‏ @catherineols Apr 20
          Replying to @catherineols @backus @juliagalef

          It's definitely true that this process of going down the rabbit hole can sometimes put you in "a less familiar place that net hurts ability to decide". You can end up with weird opinions about what's good to do that are hard to explain to others or fit into social narratives.

          1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
        10. 1 more reply

      Loading seems to be taking a while.

      Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.

        Promoted Tweet

        false

        • © 2018 Twitter
        • About
        • Help Center
        • Terms
        • Privacy policy
        • Cookies
        • Ads info