One of the things I’m working on right now is to notice when I’m explaining away inconvenient or contradictory evidence.
Surely it’s possible to turn this into a habit? But it’s difficult, the same way catching yourself from thinking a negative thought is difficult.
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Replying to
agentyduck.blogspot.com/2014/12/how-to
this post may be of interest
Idea is to train noticing of some feeling by using a counter to note instances of the thing you want to notice
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Would it help adding an additional review step where you reread just checking for that?
It may be easier to react rather than prevent.
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It is possible! This --- noticing and leaning into "anomalies" --- is a crucial trainable capacity of an excellent researcher. One of my students calls it "noticing the snag in the space-time fabric". Requires training, but also psychological safety, self-regulation, etc.
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I'm only half-joking when I say that one professors advice of "Be as arrogant as I am when reading" was very helpful. Being hyper-critical and attuned to problems no matter who you read is often simply a question of ego. Humility comes in when writing, not reading.
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