Replacing Guilt

The complete Replacing Guilt series. Written by Nate Soares. Read and produced by Gianluca Truda. --- Contents 0:00:36 : Preliminaries 0:17:50 : Part 1: Fighting for something 1:03:20 : Part 2: Drop your obligations 1:30:27 : Part 3: Half monkey, half god 2:44:30 : Part 4: The dark world 4:17:40 : Part 5: Fire within 5:39:14 : Conclusion 5:43:46 : Series reflection (excerpt from Bit of a Tangent) --- The My Hero comic by Matt Rhodes: mindingourway.com/content/images/2015/05/MyHero.jpg --- If you enjoyed this audiobook, please do share it with anyone you think might benefit from its insights. The original sequence of articles, written by Nate Soares, can be found at mindingourway.com/guilt You can get in touch with me and find out about my other public projects by visiting gianlucatruda.com The theme music is a remix of Algorithms by Chad Crouch, used under Creative Commons. If you liked listening to my voice, you may also enjoy the Bit of a Tangent Podcast, which I co-host with my friend Jared. We have discussions about AI, Rationality, mental models, Bayesian reasoning, and (most recently) the predictive processing theory of cognition. If, like us, you aim to make sense of the world and effect positive outcomes, we welcome you to join us!

This episode is made of two parts. Firstly, some updates on the project: the audiobook is still in progress and should be released soon. I'll be uploading it to this feed and will try make it as accessible as possible. To tie you all over until then, the rest of this instalment is an excerpt from the Bit of a Tangent podcast, which I co-host with my good friend, Jared. We discussed how and why I came to narrate Replacing Guilt, how to gain the most from listening to the series, and the types of people who will find it most helpful.  Bit of a Tangent podcast: www.podtangent.com Mental Models series: podtangent.com/e/mental-models-1-how-to-have-better-ideas-and-improve-your-thinking Predictive Processing series: podtangent.com/e/predictive-processing-1-the-world-you-thought-you-knew Rationality: From AI to Zombies podcast: www.from-ai-to-zombies.eu SlateStarCodex podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/slate-star-codex-podcast/id1295289140 Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality (audio): www.hpmorpodcast.com Gianluca on Twitter: twitter.com/QVagabond Jared on Twitter: twitter.com/jnearestn Bit of a Tangent on Twitter (twitter.com/podtangent) and Instagram (instagram.com/podtangent)

"All we need to do, in any given moment, is look upon the actions available to us, consider, and take whichever one seems most likely to lead to a future full of light." -------- Stay subscribed for future updates about a full audiobook version, as well as further discussions on the subject matter. Original post: http://mindingourway.com/guilt-conclusion/ Find Nate Soares at http://mindingourway.com Find Gianluca Truda at http://gianlucatruda.com Replacing Guilt is written by Nate Soares and produced, with permission, by Gianluca Truda. The theme music is a remix of Algorithms by Chad Crouch.

"After nearly a year of writing, my "replacing guilt" sequence is coming to a close. I have just one more thing to say on the subject, by pointing out a running theme throughout the series." -------- Original post: http://mindingourway.com/how-we-will-be-measured/ Find Nate Soares at http://mindingourway.com Find Gianluca Truda at http://gianlucatruda.com Replacing Guilt is written by Nate Soares and produced, with permission, by Gianluca Truda. The theme music is a remix of Algorithms by Chad Crouch.

"Defiance-the-virtue is about having the same reflexive response, not towards an authority figure, but towards the state of a broken world. It's about making the fact that you struggle to fix broken worlds automatic and unspoken — you might weigh your options and bide your time, but you spare no thought for whether you will struggle. I don't know how to teach defiance, but it's one of the keystones of my motivation system. If you want to build yourself a motivation system akin to mine, defiance is an important component." -------- Original post: http://mindingourway.com/defiance/ Find Nate Soares at http://mindingourway.com Find Gianluca Truda at http://gianlucatruda.com Replacing Guilt is written by Nate Soares and produced, with permission, by Gianluca Truda. The theme music is a remix of Algorithms by Chad Crouch.

"The second dubious virtue is recklessness. As with desperation, there are many bad ways to be reckless. There is a nihilistic recklessness, in those with a muted ability to feel and care, that is self-destructive. There is a social recklessness, when peers push each other towards doing something dangerous that none of them would do alone, in a demonstration of commitment that can become needlessly dangerous. And there is a fiery, destructive recklessness in those too quick to anger, which can lead people to actions they will regret for a lifetime. I caution against all these types of recklessness. Nevertheless, there is a type of recklessness that is a virtue. This is recklessness in the pursuit of an external goal, and I have found it to be rather rare." -------- Original post: http://mindingourway.com/recklessness/ Find Nate Soares at http://mindingourway.com Find Gianluca Truda at http://gianlucatruda.com Replacing Guilt is written by Nate Soares and produced, with permission, by Gianluca Truda. The theme music is a remix of Algorithms by Chad Crouch.

"The next three posts will discuss what I dub the three dubious virtues: desperation, recklessness, and defiance. I call them dubious, because each can easily turn into a vice if used incorrectly or excessively. As you read these posts, keep in mind the law of equal and opposite advice. Though these virtues are dubious, I have found each of them to be a crucial component of a strong and healthy intrinsic motivation system. The first of the three dubious virtues is desperation. There are bad ways to be desperate: visible desperation towards people can put you in a bad social position, strain your relationships, or otherwise harm you. Desperation towards a goal, on the other hand, is vital for a guilt-free intrinsic drive." -------- Original post: http://mindingourway.com/desperation/ Find Nate Soares at http://mindingourway.com Find Gianluca Truda at http://gianlucatruda.com Replacing Guilt is written by Nate Soares and produced, with permission, by Gianluca Truda. The theme music is a remix of Algorithms by Chad Crouch.

"I have found this mindset to be very useful throughout my life.  Confidence all the way up is what has me dive into the fray to try new  things, while others stand on the sidelines bemoaning a high degree of  uncertainty. It's part of the technique of treat recurring failures as data and training, rather than as a signal that it's time to feel guilty. It's part of the technique of knowing you're deeply limited without letting that interfere with your progress towards the goal.  Of the top ten most competent people I've met in person (by my  estimation), eight of them seem to have some variant of confidence all  the way up running. If the mindset seems foreign to you, I suggest  finding a way to practice it for a while." -------- Original post: http://mindingourway.com/confidence-all-the-way-up/ Find Nate Soares at http://mindingourway.com Find Gianluca Truda at http://gianlucatruda.com Replacing Guilt is written by Nate Soares and produced, with permission, by Gianluca Truda. The theme music is a remix of Algorithms by Chad Crouch.

"Polished response patterns have proven useful to me, and I attribute much of my skill at math, programming, and running nonprofits to having sane responses to new obstacles. Regardless of where you get your response patterns from, I suspect that honing them will do you well." -------- Original post: http://mindingourway.com/the-art-of-response/ Find Nate Soares at http://mindingourway.com Find Gianluca Truda at http://gianlucatruda.com Replacing Guilt is written by Nate Soares and produced, with permission, by Gianluca Truda. The theme music is a remix of Algorithms by Chad Crouch.

"Sometimes, I wonder how successful a person would be if they just did all the obvious things in pursuit of their goals [...] So with that in mind, allow me to offer some quite obvious pieces of advice, which have proven very useful for me..." Replacing Guilt will return to schedule in 2021. Take care and enjoy the break. -------- Original post: http://mindingourway.com/obvious-advice/ Find Nate Soares at http://mindingourway.com Find Gianluca Truda at http://gianlucatruda.com Replacing Guilt is written by Nate Soares and produced, with permission, by Gianluca Truda. The theme music is a remix of Algorithms by Chad Crouch.

"Ok, so "try" is actually a pretty useful concept; there's a reason we  have a very short word for it in the English language. Nevertheless, I  have found it quite useful to occasionally spend a few weeks refusing to  use the word "try" or any of its synonyms, at least when talking about  myself, and especially when thinking about myself to myself." -------- Original post: http://mindingourway.com/there-is-no-try/ Find Nate Soares at http://mindingourway.com Find Gianluca Truda at http://gianlucatruda.com Replacing Guilt is written by Nate Soares and produced, with permission, by Gianluca Truda. The theme music is a remix of Algorithms by Chad Crouch.

"Many years ago, when I was in high school, a friend of mine came back from college having joined a fencing team. He wanted to show me some of  the basics, so he tossed me a sabre, and we had at each other. We  crossed swords a few times, and he said something along the lines of "Nate, the goal isn't to hit my sword, the goal is to hit me." [...] " -------- Original post: http://mindingourway.com/stop-trying-to-try-and-try/ "SENS is currently fundraising, by the way": www.sens.org Find Nate Soares at http://mindingourway.com Find Gianluca Truda at http://gianlucatruda.com Replacing Guilt is written by Nate Soares and produced, with permission, by Gianluca Truda. The theme music is a remix of Algorithms by Chad Crouch.

"The last arc of posts has been about how to handle a dour universe. Become unable to despair, learn to see the darkness rather than flinching from it, learn to choose between bad and worse without suffering. Learn to live in a grim world without becoming grim yourself, learn to hear bad news without suffering, and stop needing to know your actions were acceptable. Come to terms with the fact you may lose, use the darkness as a source of fuel, and let go of dreams of total victory. These are the tools I use to tap into intrinsic motivation, in a precarious world where the problems are larger than I am. [...]" -------- Original post: http://mindingourway.com/dark-not-colorless/ Find Nate Soares at http://mindingourway.com Find Gianluca Truda at http://gianlucatruda.com Replacing Guilt is written by Nate Soares and produced, with permission, by Gianluca Truda. The theme music is a remix of Algorithms by Chad Crouch.

"In fiction, protagonists narrow their focus until the difference between success and failure on their specific task seems like the difference between victory and defeat. Batman attempts to solve the mystery while ensuring that nobody dies; meanwhile, children in Africa suffer from Malaria. The crew in The Martian spends billions of dollars worth of capital to save one man; capital that could have been spent curing diseases. Real people run a risk of duplicating this error, if they try to find the very best action available. ..." -------- Original post: http://mindingourway.com/best-you-can/ Find Nate Soares at http://mindingourway.com Find Gianluca Truda at http://gianlucatruda.com Replacing Guilt is written by Nate Soares and produced, with permission, by Gianluca Truda. The theme music is a remix of Algorithms by Chad Crouch.

"Most of the time, if something is hurting you, I recommend making it stop. There is one exception, though..." -------- Original post: http://mindingourway.com/transmute-guilt-i/ Find Nate Soares at http://mindingourway.com Find Gianluca Truda at http://gianlucatruda.com Replacing Guilt is written by Nate Soares and produced, with permission, by Gianluca Truda. The theme music is a remix of Algorithms by Chad Crouch.

"So here's my advice: Think the unthinkable. Consider that which is  painful to consider. Figure out what, exactly, is at stake. Weigh the  consequences. Come to terms with them." -------- Original post: http://mindingourway.com/come-to-your-terms/ Find Nate Soares at http://mindingourway.com Find Gianluca Truda at http://gianlucatruda.com Replacing Guilt is written by Nate Soares and produced, with permission, by Gianluca Truda. The theme music is a remix of Algorithms by Chad Crouch.

"If you have an excuse prepared, you will be tempted to fall back on it. An excuse makes failure more acceptable, in some way. It's a license to fail." -------- Original post: http://mindingourway.com/have-no-excuses/ "But you know about the planning fallacy" "a wonderful opportunity for self-signaling" Find Nate Soares at http://mindingourway.com Find Gianluca Truda at http://gianlucatruda.com Replacing Guilt is written by Nate Soares and produced, with permission, by Gianluca Truda. The theme music is a remix of Algorithms by Chad Crouch.

"... Maybe some part of you is pushing against reality, trying to deny it, willing the past to change." -------- Original post: http://mindingourway.com/simply-locate-yourself/ Find Nate Soares at http://mindingourway.com Find Gianluca Truda at http://gianlucatruda.com Replacing Guilt is written by Nate Soares and produced, with permission, by Gianluca Truda. The theme music is a remix of Algorithms by Chad Crouch.

"I'm betting that the last three posts have given many readers an incorrect impression about my demeanor. It's  easy to read those posts and conclude that I must be a grim, brooding  character who goes around with his jaw set all day long. Which is understandable, but silly. You don't need to carry a grim demeanor to draw strength from seeing the dark world. It's quite  possible to deeply want the world to be different than it is, and tap  into a deep well of cold resolve, and still also be curious, playful,  and relaxed in turn. This isn't a story, and we don't need to pretend to archetypes." -------- Original post: http://mindingourway.com/detach-the-grim-o-meter/ Find Nate Soares at http://mindingourway.com Find Gianluca Truda at http://gianlucatruda.com Replacing Guilt is written by Nate Soares and produced, with permission, by Gianluca Truda. The theme music is a remix of Algorithms by Chad Crouch.

"When given a choice between bad and worse, you need to be able to choose "bad", without qualm." -------- Original post: http://mindingourway.com/choose-without-suffering/ Find Nate Soares at http://mindingourway.com Find Gianluca Truda at http://gianlucatruda.com Replacing Guilt is written by Nate Soares and produced, with permission, by Gianluca Truda. The theme music is a remix of Algorithms by Chad Crouch.