| Instead of trying to become smarter, I've been focusing on trying to be less stupid. Gurwinder Bhogal goes over this a bit on episode #602 of the Modern Wisdom podcast at roughly 15:00. https://chriswillx.com/podcast/ Some things in particular: - Focus more on writing and thinking clearly. - Try to think more slowly. https://sive.rs/slow - Avoid posting inane/uninteresting stuff on social media. - Avoid engaging in debates. - Avoid ideologies, groupthink, and assumptions. - Avoid correcting people on the Internet. - Avoid taking things at face value (eg. news and opinions) - Avoid "poseuring". I am a strong generalist with a decent knowledge of and passion for a lot of different things. I'm the guy people around me come to for tough technical things. I probably take too much pride in that. When someone asks if I know subject $foo well, and I know a little about $foo, I tend to answer in the affirmative. Most of the time, this works out and through intelligence and luck, I figure it out. Some of the time I am wrong and I look pretty dumb. - Avoid being unkind to others. |
> People say that your first reaction is the most honest, but I disagree. Your first reaction is usually outdated. Either it’s an answer you came up with long ago and now use instead of thinking, or it’s a knee-jerk emotional response to something in your past.
Fascinating trying to think of questions people might ask, how I might respond, and why.