Effortless Technique — LessWrong
"All my life I have been intensely repelled by the idea of 'making an effort'. I hate this idea today as much as I did as a child. I don't know why I hate it so much; I just do." -- Raymond Smullyan, The Tao Is Silent In the Hollywood version of rationality - or even the Traditional rationality that was passed down from supervisor to grad student in ancient days before Bayesianism - rationality is a great strain, a great effort, a continuous battle to coerce your mind into a desired shape. Spock, the archetype of Hollywood's concept of rationality, represses all his emotions. And this great effort, they conceive, is virtue unto a rationalist. The more effort you expend on forcing yourself into the mold, the better the rationalist you must be. It's like working extra hard at your job, as demanded by the Protestant work-ethic. If the one works long hours - sweating, getting ulcers - surely the one must be worthy of praise? This, I think, is an instance of a Lost Purpose.