British writer JK Rowling and her series of Harry Potter novels need no introduction. It's strange to even think that the first novel in this series came out 20 years ago.

British writer JK Rowling and her series of Harry Potter novels need no introduction. Just think, the first novel in this series was published 20 years ago, which means that the first generation of fans of the saga of the wizard boy has already reached middle age. It is not surprising that such a popular work has acquired a lot of parodies and fan fiction.

Perhaps the most unusual fanfiction was Eliezer Shlomo Yudkowsky's Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality. By profession, the author is far from the world fiction. E.Sh. Yudkovsky is an American specialist in artificial intelligence, co-founder and Researcher Institute of the Singularity for the creation of Artificial Intelligence. His book can be freely read both in the original and in translation.

hpmor.ru

In Yudkowsky's fanfiction, Petunia marries not the dim-witted Vernon Dursley, but a professor Oxford University Michael Verres-Evans. Accordingly, Harry does not live in a closet under the stairs, but uses complete freedom and receive an excellent education. At 11 he already knows quantum mechanics, cognitive psychology, probability theory and other branches of science. But most importantly, he is absolutely rational - much more rational than even his learned father, not to mention the wizards of Hogwarts.

The goal of this book is to art form convey the basic principles of rationality, but first sow doubt that adults always think rationally. Perhaps this is the most important misconception of mankind. To think rationally means to think in terms. rational thinking is conceptual thinking. A concept is not just a word denoting an object, but a word whose definition contains the essential features of the object, i.e. its genus and species differences. This definition of the concept was given by the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle.

Studies by cognitive psychologists have shown that more than 70% of adults are incapable of conceptual thinking. Their thinking is either completely childish. figurative thinking, or on a slightly higher, but not up to the conceptual level - thinking in representations.

Detailed studies of the remaining 30% are also disappointing, because these people only resort to conceptual thinking from time to time. Most often, it appears only in professional activity. For example, scientists, like Harry Potter's foster father, are necessarily extremely rational when they are engaged in pure science, but become ordinary people in everyday matters or matters that do not directly relate to their sphere of competence.

Take, for example, the fundamental attribution error discussed in the book. Behind this cumbersome name lies our habit of evaluating the motives and causes of our own actions and the actions of other people in different ways. We explain our successes and good deeds by our own personal qualities, and we explain the successes and good deeds of other people, especially if we don’t like them, by a combination of circumstances. With regard to failures and bad behavior, everything is exactly the opposite: “We are not like that, life is like that.”

It is easy to see that a fundamental attribution error lies behind what the modern press calls double standards. Yudkovsky, explaining this phenomenon, makes us understand that before blaming the authors double standards in insidiousness, you must first consider whether they know what they are doing common to most people mistake? Otherwise, we ourselves risk falling into it.

Evgeny Sizov

Based on materials from the Brainhack.me blog

Getting rid of bad habits

You can't get rid of them, but you can replace them with new ones, and it will work. In order for a habit to be launched for execution, we need a certain signal, a “trigger”, to which we, in fact, react with a familiar set of actions, after which we receive a reward in one form or another. This is the so-called habit loop: trigger - habitual actions- reward. This is all described in more detail in Charles Duhigg's book The Power of Habit. The trick is to learn to pay attention to triggers and rewards. It is most effective to leave them the same, while replacing only a set of familiar actions. To do this, you need to dissect your bad habit: remember at what moments it works for you, and find the trigger. Then pay attention to what reward, what pleasant sensations you get. Then gradually try to replace these old habits with new, useful ones. By the way, this may be surprising. challenging task but it will help you understand yourself better.

Kelly McGonigal, a professor at Stanford University, has collected in her book the results of research on how to pump up your willpower, gradually cultivate new habits, be more attentive, and so on. The end of each chapter conveniently highlights the main points and a set of practices you can try.

Search for logic and rationality

“The goal of knowledge is to achieve truth through thinking, the goal of knowledge is truth. Logic, on the other hand, is a science that shows how thinking should be done in order for the truth to be achieved, ”the classic Chelpanov textbook on logic begins with these words. Thus, if we still want to understand something, it would be good to get to know the logic better. What is the practical meaning of this? Let's say you are arguing with a friend about something and you feel like you are going in circles or even already at a dead end. Logic will help clarify what exactly the dispute is about and whether the evidence is built correctly, better understand the opponent’s point of view and your own too. If this sounds boring, then Google the query "rational thinking" instead of the query "logic". This phrase is the key to various articles that try to twist logic into everyday life, to make this knowledge more practical.

What to read: Eliezer Yudkowsky "Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality"

Yes, this is a Harry Potter fanfiction, but written by an American specialist in artificial intelligence and the singularity. In each chapter, using examples of situations occurring with the characters, one of the topics related to rational thinking is revealed.

The path to understanding others

"What are they all doing?" It happens that some similar question arises in the head, right? Usually in moments when the world around us does not meet our formulated or even unformulated expectations. Especially when it comes to the behavior of other people. It seems that you said everything clearly, but you were misunderstood. It seems that everyone understands that it is necessary to act in this way, but a colleague took it and acted in a completely different way.

We have heard the idea that all people are different, in one wording or another, thousands of times, but when we come across this in practice, we are always surprised. Pay attention to how differently they perceive the same situation different people? Psychologists, of course, also drew attention to this. Henry Murray, for example, developed the thematic apperception test, which became widespread after the Second World War and was then used primarily to work with disorders in emotional sphere. The subjects are simply shown images of people in various everyday situations and offer to tell a story about what is happening in the picture, to describe how the characters feel. Needless to say, different people talk about the same image completely different stories? Or at least pay attention to different details. You can test this for yourself and your friends.

Moreover, when we perceive other people and think that we understand them, then often this too turns out to be an illusion. In psychology, there is a term "attribution". It is a mechanism for explaining the causes of other people's behavior. And from Latin it is translated as "attribution". There is, for example, a fundamental attribution error - the human tendency to explain the actions and behavior of other people by their personality traits, and their behavior - external circumstances. Some abstract Vasya, for example, was rude to someone right in the middle of the working day and explains it to himself like this: “I got angry because everything is not going as planned.” And his colleague Alice, passing by, thought: "He's such a mean one."

When we talk about ourselves, we usually describe our actions, reactions, emotions: “It upsets me that ...” Speaking of others, we most often characterize the person himself: “He always whines ...” Therefore, the next time when you will be surprised by the behavior of other people, try to look at the situation from a different angle.

Standard interesting, easily written and at the same time strictly supported by scientific data textbook on social psychology professor of psychology David Myers will help on huge number examples a little better to understand the behavior of people. And, obviously, in their behavior as well.

Introspection

With the fact that we are wrong about the behavior of other people, more or less clear. But we can also make mistakes about ourselves, not pay attention to something, or generally rush by inertia, not noticing how the working days fly by, how quickly the vacation passes. Writing practices- a reliable and proven way to understand yourself. More precisely, even many ways. The simplest one that immediately comes to mind is a diary. Not a blog, but The Diary in which you can be honest with yourself and which you conduct regularly. You can try to simply write down what happened to you during the day, what you felt at the same time, what you think now. Or, conversely, focus on plans for the future.

If keeping a diary has never worked out, you should turn to another simple practice: “morning pages”. Every morning, the first thing you do is sit down and write down everything that comes to mind in a way that works for you. At the computer or on paper - as you prefer. The main thing is to do it regularly and in even portions - for example, be sure to 15 minutes or be sure to 3 pages. And these pages should not be read by anyone but you. It's personal. Don't know where to start? Start with "I don't know where to start...". If it seems that there is nothing to say, just write: “Well, there is nothing to say, nothing to say, nothing to say.” Here, for example, you can share your feelings about developing a habit, or decide on plans for the day, or dream about the future, whatever. You can re-read what you have written, or you can not re-read it - it's up to you.

Armen Petrosyan writes a lot about the morning pages in his blog and on the pages of the “Life is interesting” project, where other authors, in particular, psychologist Daria Kutuzova, who runs the “Writing Practices” website, write about the same. And there is Lena Truskova’s “Text Workshops”, which will help not only to deal with yourself, but also to write texts in general (here you can try tasks).

Stop multitasking

If computers are good at keeping multiple processes running at the same time, we are not. You can indulge yourself with stories about Caesar, who did many things at the same time, but in reality a person cannot be fully multitasking. When it seems to us that we are coping with several tasks at the same time, in reality we just quickly switch between them. And even if this is not noticeable in the process, this is a relatively energy-consuming task for the brain. It's no wonder that on especially busy days we feel drained. At the same time, there are not as many professions that actually need multitasking as it seems. For example, having this ability implies the position of an air traffic controller. But they have in the regulations the terms of continuous work and regular breaks. And many of those who like to imagine themselves multitasking prefer to start work in the morning and finish at night. I know, I did it myself.

But how to manage to do a mountain of work without switching between tasks? First of all, you need to understand that imaginary multitasking does not make you more efficient. Quite often, the effectiveness, on the contrary, is significantly reduced, and this was confirmed by studies. It is better to try to do one thing at a time carefully, without switching. Recall how you did something you really enjoy without being distracted and losing track of time. This is approximately the state you need to try to achieve when doing things.

Plan regular breaks. Here it is worth remembering the pomodoro technique: start a timer, for example, for 25 minutes, work with focus, then take a break for 5 minutes - and go back to work. Take longer breaks several times a day. It can also be helpful to take a nap, if that suits you, or go for a walk. And most importantly, the next time it seems to you that you are doing several things at the same time, remember that you are not really doing any at this moment.

The book is not about how to do more, but about the fact that it is worth doing less, but only things that are really important to you. It will help you tune in to escape from the pseudo-multi-tasking trap and focus on what matters.

Concentration management

The term "time management" is being replaced by the term "self-management". The fact is that you cannot manage time, you can only plan it. You can only manage yourself. And first of all - with your attention and concentration. What are you focus on expands. It is useful to learn to pay attention to things that are important to you and cut off the insignificant ones. Remember that if you do not fulfill your plans and dreams, you are fulfilling someone else's. Attention is connected in some way with stimuli, and understanding this connection helps to better control oneself. Scientifically, this is supported by the Yerkes-Dodson law, which determines the dependence best results from the average intensity of motivation. The result improves when the motivation (or degree of arousal) increases to a certain limit. Beyond this limit, when the level of motivation/arousal becomes too high, performance deteriorates. Graphically, this law can be represented as an inverted parabola. This parabola has long been actively used by sports psychologists to work with the attention of athletes.

How can this knowledge be useful? To stay focused, it is important to maintain your optimal level of arousal. Remember: when the mood is “no”, work sometimes falls out of hand. And on the contrary, when the mood is too good, you forget about work, and you want to enjoy the moment, sing along to all your favorite songs at once, well, you know better what you want to do in such a mood. So, the effective level of arousal, which can be called your "zone of concentration" is somewhere between these two states. For different types of activities, different levels of excitement are suitable, but you need to try to manage your state - calm down when everything is on fire in your hands, or, conversely, provoke yourself when you don’t want to do anything. the main task- be aware when you have left the zone of concentration, and then understand what needs to be done: cheer up or calm down.

Psychologist Lucy Palladino is an expert on attention. In this book, she describes a system she developed for those who want to develop the ability to concentrate.

self-education

With so many online courses and other educational initiatives that we have today, the problem, it would seem, is not how to study, but how to get everything done and where to start.

But if you ask yourself “how to learn to learn?”, then it may turn out that there are more questions than answers. Recently, hundreds of British and Dutch teachers were surveyed and found that they continue to believe in many myths about the brain. For example, in the myth about right hemisphere and left hemisphere students. Another myth is that you should immediately decide whether you are auditory, visual or kinesthetic, and then assimilate information only in the way that suits you. In one study, people were asked to choose what type they were, and then presented with materials in an appropriate or inappropriate format. It turned out that the auditory people dealt with textual materials quite well, and the kinesthetics normally perceived information by ear. By the way, many education hackers, when sharing their experience, notice that they learn the material best when they study it in all its variants: they listen to audio lectures and retell them to themselves, draw and write down on paper, read textbooks, and so on.

Online Course: Learn to Learn at Coursera

Online course on how to learn to learn by Professor Barbara Oakley with the support of Professor Terrence Sejnowski. They will talk about chunking, procrastination, memory and simple useful techniques to help make learning more meaningful and effective. All this is complemented by interviews with people who are seriously involved in education or self-education, for example, with polyglot Bunny, writing coach Daphne Gray-Grant. There is also an interview with Scott Young, who completed a 4-year MIT program in a year.

Meditation

Meditation is still considered by many to be inseparable from religion or esotericism. But as soon as this practice got to Europe and the States, the processes of secularization and scientific research. This has led to meditation establishing itself as a proven technique for increasing concentration, mindfulness, and awareness. There are research centers that are studying the benefits of meditation for reducing stress and chronic pain. You can start practicing meditation on your own. 5-10 minutes a day is enough for this: just sit quietly with eyes closed, with a straight back and focusing on your breathing. Most importantly, try to do it regularly.

To understand exactly what to do, take a look at the video, where TV presenter Dan Harris, in the form of a laboratory mouse, talks about the basics of meditation in a couple of minutes. To develop a habit and not get confused about what to pay attention to, it will be useful to choose the right audio instructions. One of the proven options is the Headspace service. He has a well-implemented gradual increase in the amount of time: first you meditate for 5 minutes a day, then 10, 15, 20. And all this time the announcer will pay attention to what you should pay attention to. The course is in English, if knowledge of the language is not enough, then on the network you can find similar audio files in Russian.

Dr. Kabat-Zinn - Founder research center Center for Mindfulness at Massachusetts medical university(UMass). The first time the book was published in 1985, 6 years after the establishment of the center. The author gradually explains what the essence of the practice is, diluting the text with recommendations on how to try to apply what is described in Everyday life and in the practice of meditation.

Dream

Sometimes we sacrifice sleep for the show interesting book, class conversation or urgent business at work. Even considering this, we devote about a third of our lives to sleep, but most of what happens to us in a dream, from the point of view of science, is still beyond understanding. It is known that during sleep the brain processes information and transfers it to long-term memory. It is especially worth paying attention to this fact for students and schoolchildren: if you are learning something, especially before the exam itself, try to get enough sleep. Otherwise, you will encounter the effect when the knowledge in your head seems to crumble and even the text in the cheat sheets turns out to be incomprehensible. The busier the day, the more we need to get a good night's sleep. Although, to be honest, what it means to “sleep well” is still an open question.

Journalist David Randall became interested in the topic of sleep when he discovered that he was walking in his sleep. And not just walking in a dream, but managed to get injured. During his research, he found that sleep is still a rather little-studied topic, and seems to have left in his book more questions than gave answers.

NATA CARLIN

Rational thinking differs from irrational in that it is based on logically sound arguments and facts for reflection and decision making. Irrational thinking is an incoherent train of thought that does not have a strictly built logical chain and is based on assumptions and feelings. Irrational thinking arises from a person's desire to believe in their fantasies.

Rational thinking is a process, not a result

This way of thinking is the ability to build logical chains, draw appropriate conclusions and. The desire to think rationally is a positive factor for working on own shortcomings. Guided by logical reflections, a person does not act spontaneously, thereby excluding unpleasant surprises. Rational thinking allows a person to see things in their true light, explains the inexplicable, calms and shows shortest way to achieve desired result. This method helps, which in this moment considered paramount.

To learn how to think rationally, follow these guidelines:

Start each reflection with a search for proven facts. Sometimes this is difficult to do, but without them it is impossible to build a logical chain that will lead to the right conclusions and the right actions;
In thinking, be guided by the fact that your point of view (as well as those of others) may be wrong. Ask your friends about their vision of this fact.

Do not judge the actions and behavior of people only by external manifestations. Do you think that a friend avoids communicating with you? What are your conclusions based on? On logic or assumptions? Find out the truth, don't guess. Find confirmation that you are the one being avoided. Maybe a person is in trouble, and he seeks to limit communication with everyone. He is not up to you;
Do not think out phrases for your opponent, do not imagine what he is thinking about. Listen carefully to the interlocutors, and perceive only what they say to you;
Doubt the sincerity of the words and actions of a person? Speak directly, expressing grievances and asking questions.

The Benefits of Rational Thinking

The benefits of rational thinking can be seen in simple example. You have heard reproaches and dissatisfaction from the interlocutor, expressed in the rejection of your views and behavior. The first impulse in this case will be to answer the person in the same way. But what do you get in case of a scandal? Mutual hostility, mental discomfort, and prolonged. Better save dignity and peace of mind. A person with rational thinking will do it easier - he will analyze his own actions that caused criticism and discontent, and accept the opinion of the one who criticized him. Will try to find a consensus - to reach an agreement on the issue on which both have own opinion. At the same time, it will make it clear to the opponent that it is possible to resolve issues by amicable agreement, without offending or humiliating the views of the interlocutor.

Rational thinking contributes to the fact that a person regains peace of mind. You can give an example of how people think when flying in an airplane that has fallen into a zone of turbulence:

irrational thinking person at the same moment he imagines own death in every detail.
A rationally thinking person thinks that there was a similar situation, and everything ended well. In addition, the percentage of air crashes in the total number of flights in the world is negligible.

In any case, it is better to be calm and cool until the very end than to "wind up" yourself, making the situation worse and panicking.

Rational thinking is typical for people in the following professions:

Mathematicians;
Military;
Physics;
Chemists, etc.

In every area where knowledge is required exact sciences, people enjoy rational thinking.

Irrational thinking - feelings and emotions

People who do not know how to separate facts from fiction and build logical chains of thought use irrational thinking. It is difficult for them to foresee the events and the result of certain actions, which leads to spontaneous actions and unnecessary experiences. However, rational thinking is impossible without the presence of an irrational (spiritual) component. For example, an artist cannot explain the principle that he uses in the selection of colors. It turns out that he contradicts the laws of logic, while creating masterpieces of fine art.

However, the layman needs to be taught to deal with manifestations of irrational thinking. It is necessary to analyze events and facts in order to exclude the possibility of thinking irrationally.

extremes.

When evaluating this or that situation, do not fall into extremes like “all or nothing” or “this is definitely black, but this is white, and halftones do not exist.” To deal with such manifestations, there are several rules:

no bad and good people All of them with their own advantages and disadvantages. In every person you can find positive traits and "close your eyes" to the negative;
Eliminate words from the lexicon that express the extreme degree of something. For example, "always" or "never". Do not use them in relation to others and to yourself;
Leave aside categorical thinking. It's better to admit to people that you suffer from temper tantrums, rather than claiming that you are a quick-tempered person. This is how you justify your shortcomings.

"Nightmare".

Change your attitude towards such thoughts:

Think about the fact that the situation that has arisen is a problem, but not one that guarantees imminent death or the end of the existence of the universe;
Compare the current situation with the true terrible event- death loved one or the condition of people in Nazi concentration camps.

Comfort yourself with the following thoughts:

“This is a trifle that is not worth focusing on it”;
"Unpleasant, but not fatal";
"Everything will be fine";
"The earth will not leave its orbit, and humanity will continue to exist."

"End of the world".

If you're used to exaggerating destructive force this or that problem, imagining dire consequences in this situation, calm down with the following thoughts:

Learn to expect from life not only blows, but also good moments;
Constantly repeat to yourself that the outcome of the situation may be bad, but the probability of this is negligible.
Don't worry about what might happen. After all keyword here "may". Most likely, this will not happen at all, and you are just wasting your nerves;
Try to design several scenarios for the development of events, and calculate in percentage the probability that the result will be the worst.

"I can not do it anymore".

This belief is not limited to people who use irrational thinking, but also those who Reformulate the expression and convince yourself that life is difficult for you now, but gradually you will overcome this barrier.

The main thing is to answer yourself the question of whether this is really your problem? Or are you just experiencing someone else's pain, passing it off as your own.

March 22, 2014

At the end of the 20th century, many changes in the conditions of our life became clear, including cardinal changes in the means, methods and forms of organizing our thinking. Organizational managerial activity became professional and, consequently, began to need its own special logic and methodology of thinking. Solving various kinds of managerial, strategic objectives, it is necessary to use special logical tricks, techniques and methods of thinking that systematize the process of mental activity, make it more fruitful.
The consideration of such techniques and methods of thinking is devoted to this chapter.
The most common thinking techniques are:
. Analysis is a method of thinking that consists in dividing the whole into its component parts.
. Synthesis is a method of thinking, consisting in connection, aggregation separate parts into a whole.
. Reduction - the transition from complex elements to simple ones with the selection of the main basis.
. Induction is a method of thinking based on a conclusion from the particular (special) to the general.
. Deduction is a method based on inference from the general to the particular (special).
. Comparison is a method that determines the similarity or difference of phenomena.
. Analogy is a method of thinking based on the transfer of one or a number of properties from famous phenomenon to the unknown.
. Growing ideas, concepts - a means of building logically related items, ideas into one concept.
. Reflection is a method of thinking aimed at comprehending one's own own actions, work, thinking and their analysis, i.e. introspection.
Reflection is perhaps the most interesting method thinking and deserves special attention. It is advisable to consider this method in more detail.
To understand the mechanism of reflection, consider the scheme of the so-called "reflexive exit".
Suppose a person is doing certain activities given by his goals, means and knowledge, but for some reason he cannot get desired result from his work or cannot carry out at all necessary actions. In each of these cases, he poses the question: why does he fail and what needs to be done to achieve the desired result?
The simplest case will be when he or someone else already carried out an activity aimed at achieving a similar goal in similar conditions, and, therefore, this individual just needs to build a copy of it.
It is much more difficult when such an activity is fundamentally new, there are no samples of it to draw analogies. But the answer must still be found, and it is no longer created simply as a description earlier perfect activity but as a project or plan for future activities.
But no matter how new and different from all the previous ones project activity, the project itself cannot be developed only on the basis of analysis and awareness of the actions already performed earlier and the results obtained.
In all cases, in order to obtain such a description of an activity that has already been performed, the individual we have considered must leave his former position as an actor and move into a new position - external, both in relation to the former and in relation to the projected activity. This will be the “reflexive exit”, the new position of the actor will be called the “reflexive position”, and the knowledge developed in it will be called “reflexive knowledge”, since they are developed in the first position. The "reflexive exit" scheme will serve as the first abstract model characteristic of reflection as a whole.
New activity of an individual in a reflexive position, as it were, absorbs the previous activity, acting for it as the material of analysis, and the future activity as a projected object. This relation of absorption through knowledge acts as the second characteristic of reflection as a whole.
The relation of reflexive absorption, acting as a static equivalent of "reflexive exit", allows us to abandon the principle of "isolated individual" and consider reflexive relations directly as a type of cooperation between different individuals and, accordingly, as a type of cooperation between different types activities.
Now the essence of the reflexive relationship is no longer that this or that individual goes “out of himself” and “beyond himself”, but in the fact that activity develops, creating more and more complex cooperative structures based on the principle of reflexive absorption.
Cooperative relationships are:
- practical production relations, which consist in the transfer of products of one activity as source material or funds to another activity;
- theoretical connections association and integration of means of activity, objects, knowledge in the service of any third activity. What is important is that some of these connections must necessarily arise, otherwise no cooperation is possible.
The bottom line is that a reflective exit turns the original activity not even into an object, but simply into material for reflective activity. Reflective and reflective activities are not equal, since they lie on different levels hierarchies, they different objects, different means of activity, different knowledge, and because of all these differences, there can be no mutual understanding and no communication in the true sense of the word between the reflecting and reflecting agents.
Indeed, an individual who is in an external position describes what is happening, including the elements of the activity of the first individual, in his own way, and then transfers his description and the form of the message to the first individual. The latter, receiving a message, must understand it and use the knowledge inherent in it in their activities. But to understand means to take the information from the perspective in which it was presented by the second individual. It is practically impossible, or at least, is extremely difficult. This fact is explained by the fact that the first individual carries out a completely different activity than the second, presents a picture of the whole situation in his own way and, as a result, he will understand and interpret all the information coming from the second individual differently than the second, with a different meaning and a different content.
The only possibility for the first individual to accurately and adequately understand the meaning inherent in the message of the second individual is to take his point of view, to take his active position. But this will be a completely artificial transformation that violates the natural and the necessary conditions the current situation of communication: in normal conditions the transition of the first individual to the position of the second will mean the abandonment of his professional position. And, consequently, cooperation as such will not work again.
The question arises: is there no such way and method of understanding that would allow the first individual to restore the true meaning embedded in the message by the second, and at the same time preserve his own point of view?
Such a way and method of understanding is possible and occurs in those cases when the first individual has very special and specific means of understanding, allowing him to combine two points of view - to "see" and know what the second individual "sees" and knows, and at the same time what he must "see" and know for himself.
In the simplest case, the first individual must have such a representation of the situation and all its objects that mechanically connects the representations of the first and second, but at the same time makes it possible to separate them. In more difficult case it will be a "configuration type" representation that combines different "projections".
Thus, reflection, described as reflexive exit or reflexive absorption, turns out to be a purely negative, critical and destructive connection; in order to become a positive creative mechanism, it must supplement itself with some kind of constructive procedure that generates the conditions and means necessary to unite reflective and reflective activity within the framework of genuine cooperation. Only then can a complete mechanism be obtained that ensures the creation of new organizations of activity and their development.
Destruction and elimination techniques.
The second set of thinking techniques is conditionally called destructive techniques. They are united by a common orientation to the search for the weak, vulnerabilities in mental work, its premises and results. One of the main functions of this set of techniques is to encourage the deepening of statements, their greater substantiation, the elimination of contradictions and errors, and the search for new ideas.
. Misunderstanding is a destructive technique based on a misunderstanding of what is being proposed or affirmed. This technique is aimed at finding new ideas, new arguments, simpler and more convincing formulations and arguments, at creating productive tension in the group. This technique encourages participants to repeatedly pronounce their arguments, grounds, due to which an in-depth study of the idea takes place. Misunderstanding stimulates the desire to make communications more perfect, and also accelerates group-forming processes.
. Doubt is the introduction of uncertainty about the correctness of the idea proposed by the group. This raises questions like: Is it true? And it's all? Is this true? Are you sure? etc. This technique allows you to hold the group at one stage of work for a more in-depth study of the content of the issues under discussion, ideas. It helps to weed out weak, unproductive ideas, remove attempts at demagogic speeches, and form a sense of responsibility for the results of work.
. Problematization is a mental technique consisting in the requirement to explain why an individual or group asserts and does such and such, persistently fixing the precariousness or lack of grounds for the assertions being made. Due to this technique, the productivity and quality of work usually sharply increase, the skills of searching, working out and building the foundations of one's judgments, ideas, statements and actions are formed.
. Criticism - fixing the shortcomings of the provided content, ways of obtaining and presenting it. Criticism allows you to define weak sides one or another construction, develops the skills of a constructive attitude to shortcomings, the ability to defend one's point of view. The technique of criticism includes next steps:
- define the goals of criticism;
- determine the object of criticism;
- fix the standard that will be used for criticism;
- comparing the object of criticism with the standard, identify differences and contradictions;
- endure critical appraisal deviating from the standard characteristics of the object of criticism.
. Negation. The consultant says “no” to all statements and proposals of the participants in the work. The purpose of this technique is to search for new ideas, develop argumentation skills, create productive creative tension, expand the content field of work, including the use of creative thinking techniques. The only way to break through this no is to change the way we work. In methodological practice, this way of working is known as "NO - strategy".
. Inversion is a statement directly opposite to what is being asserted or expressed by one or more participants in the work, fixing and substantiating this point of view, focusing on the possibility of an opposite approach. This technique serves to deepen the content of the issue under discussion, search for completely new arguments, train the skills of comprehensive consideration of issues, and create productive tension in the group.
. Reduction to the absurd. This technique implemented through the following actions:
- the content of the thesis to be refuted is determined;
- an assumption is made that it is true;
- conclusions are drawn from the statement, the last of which is absurd;
- a logical law is fixed, according to which only a true consequence can be obtained from a true statement;
- the connection between the absurdity of the conclusion and the falsity of the main thesis is fixed.
Skillful mastery of these techniques significantly increases intellectual potential participants of the work, makes the analysis deeper, and the conclusions more meaningful and justified.

I am writing this post to start a new one. working week in a calm and sane (I hope) mind, and not to return to this topic again. Except for new quotes :)

So, Harry Potter and the Principles of Rationality. Author: Eliezer Yudkovsky
English version, Russian translation - . Both chapter-by-chapter reading and most well-known formats that can be loaded into the Kindle are available.

I also provide a link to Russian version of the site LessWrong (under this pseudonym of Yudkovsky the chapters of the book were first published). The site publishes materials on the development of human rationality and overcoming cognitive distortions, including translated articles from the English-language site, as well as from others related to the topic.

To be honest, I'm a little confused because I don't know how to accurately describe this... book. If not for the plot, it could well have been sent to the shelf of the popular scientific literature, something like "the principles of rational thinking that almost all of us all neglect, because we don't really want to know the truth about the reality around us, but want to make up stories about it." In short, we take a very well-read adolescent logician who considers himself a scientist, and therefore thinks accordingly. We push into the familiar (to us) and unfamiliar (to him) Magic world. And let's see what comes out of it. It's okay, just an experiment ... The result .. not exactly exceeds expectations, but thanks to the talent of the author, it causes either an understanding smile, or laughter (sometimes slightly hysterical), or applause for especially well-expressed thoughts, or deep sympathy, or pain from how close situation to reality.

You are a Hero. You have been given a Quest. The rules are unknown. Who is playing is unknown. You find clues, magical artifacts, and people that guide you to the right direction. You have both secret well-wishers and enemies. Dark characters are either lying, or their advice is a double-edged sword. You have one try. Moves cannot be replayed. At the beginning of the game you have 100 points. Where do you think you ended up?

I'm sorry if you're hurt. I'm sorry if you're scared. I'm sorry if with any of the facts you met, your world will collapse. You will have to go through this. If you want to change the world, you'll have to learn about it. the truth. Offer new theory and build new model. Which will also collapse, and already in the next chapter.

I don't know if the author wanted really write an encounter story scientific picture world and "spiritual practices". Most likely, my interested mind just read it there. But even if so, the reference is very good and evokes the corresponding emotions.

Style. It seemed to me that the author uses each chapter as a canvas to reveal the essence of one of the theories. These can be principles of experimentation, principles of rationality such as “Why do you believe what you believe?”, manipulation theories, “confirmation error”, “belief conviction”, time paradoxes, graphite nanotubes, and even basic genetics: ) As the book progresses, the theories being explained become more complicated. The chapters are often named accordingly. In fact, this is a textbook on rational thinking "for dummies" :) Anyone who is familiar with much of what has been written is very pleased to remember what it is like to receive a smart hero as a gift from a book (finally!).

Moreover, thanks to the plot, very believably changed characters and emotional intensity(the author definitely succeeded in many scenes!), it all looks not at all as boring as it could be. The author has a great sense of humor and is correct proportions combines it with appropriate pathos (not sentimental, but not feigned).

In addition to science, the author gladly introduces here and there references to many other works. Often they are explicit, such as references to Star Wars, VK or Ender's Game, and sometimes veiled with separate phrases or plot twists. Personally, the author conquered me with Rupo's Balls and Comrade Bester, who taught Harry the basics of telepathic protection, hehe!

Did I mention sense of humor? This fanfic is also a great banter. The author, with apparent pleasure, walked along the Mysterious dark side, optimistic thinking (which is worth just the phrase “Every day I become Lighter and Lighter” or the plan “How not to become the Dark Lord.” True, Harry composed his own at 11 years old, and I at 32, supplementing and rewriting some of the provisions at 36 :)), issues of feminism, contemporary politics and ... but what was there just not there. I haven't caught everything yet. Passed, I must say well.

Unfortunately, this "joy of the rational mind" has another side that follows directly from the first. The author sometimes goes too far into speculation and forgets about the plot, sophisticated plans become more sophisticated, and emotions become more and more faded. And so I am not at all sure that I will finish the book to the end. But if you don't take it as separate story, but as an attempt to embroider the author's thoughts on the canvas of the world known to almost everyone, then ... you can have a good time for a couple of evenings. Isn't that the purpose of the book?