One of the upsides of being unable to think of yourself as special is that you when things go unreasonably well, you're instantly suspicious, and the suspicions usually turn out to be correct -- something weird is usually up that has nothing to do with you.
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People who think of themselves as special seem to usually go, "at last, the universe is recognizing my special genius" and then they are almost invariably disappointed/betrayed later.
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This is almost like the religion/atheist divide, with the same roots in anthropocentric cognition. To believe in your own specialness is a kind of degenerate religion with yourself as god, with a special place at the center of the universe. Strongly distorts your priors.
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Douglas Adams' Total Perspective Vortex was a nice little play on this idea, where the TPV *doesn't* drive Zaphod insane, because they happen to be in a reality literally designed with him at the center.
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Choosing to look at yourself from special statistical angles is kinda like taking selfies from an angle that makes you look good.
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I’m frequently confounded by tech pros who think our complex systems will break less often if people start caring more and trying harder.
Like, are there really people who don’t expect to perform even everyday tasks incorrectly at least 1 in 10 times?
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