Created: January 27, 2022
Modified: February 10, 2022
Modified: February 10, 2022
tension
This page is from my personal notes, and has not been specifically reviewed for public consumption. It might be incomplete, wrong, outdated, or stupid. Caveat lector.- This page (first brainstormed in an Otter note) is for issues where I feel pulled in several directions. Different principles seem to yield different answers and I don't know which principle is more fundamental, or whether I should be using a more refined principle.
- By explicitly flagging and noting tensions, I'll be able to explicitly resolve them (sometimes). This is a cognitive 'leveling up'---it makes me more sure of myself, less conflicted, and also just more rigorous as a thinker.
- In many cases the resolution to a tension is a reframing rather than a choice. If I have two concepts that feel powerful but can't both be right, that means they aren't right---they don't carve the world at the joints. They might still be 'the best I can do'---all models are wrong, but some are useful---but being aware of where they fail is valuable in recognizing new conceptual scaffolding in which the tension no longer exists.
- strategy: link to this page anytime I come across an issue where I feel my position is not clear or needs more thought.
- strategy two: on some issues, consider writing a longer discussion---a Roam page or a blog post---where I hash out my thoughts.