This snippet is similar to these related snippets from March 2021: #1 #2
I’ve been thinking about the Efficient Minds Fallacy lately, and so I read this as it relates to the EMF.
The Efficient Minds Fallacy occurs when someone incorrectly believes in the Efficient Minds Hypothesis or one of it’s consequences. The Efficient Minds Hypothesis is only slightly more silly than it’s namesake, the Efficient Market Hypothesis.
The Efficient Minds Hypothesis (EMH) says that if you know $A$ and you know $A \rightarrow B$, then you also know $B$. On the surface this sounds reasonable, but it is demonstrably false and has pernicious consequences if believed.
To put it in plain English: the EMH states that given the information available to you, you know all the conclusions that can be deduced from that information.
This is obviously false. If it were true, you would never lose a game of chess (no new information is introduced).
Main reasons it’s false:
- Noticing that a reasoning step can take place requires attending to the premises; your attention may be on other information, and so you might not notice that a reasoning step can be performed.
- Computation takes time. Even if you are acutely aware of two premises, it still requires time to perform the step of reasoning to reach the conlusion.
- Attending to the premises takes time.
So, why do people believe it? And what evidence do we have that people believe it?
My estimation is: it largely manifests in over confidence, allocating insufficient time for thinking deeply about things, insufficient time for thinking deeply (not about things in particular), and under-reliance on others / an under-appreciation for the power of a second brain or second perspective (e.g. not seeking advice as much)
I know I’ve observed these things in myself. Almost always when I do ask for someone else’s advice or perspective on something (something I’d like to do more of), I am surprised and delighted by the insight they are able to offer. I attribute the surprisal that I experience to my natural inclination toward believing the EMH.
I want to clarify: at a logical level, I do absolutely do not believe the EMH; I think it’s preposterous and demonstrably false. Nevertheless, when I am not attending to the EMH, and am instead attending to some other problem, I forget that I have concluded the EMH is false, and so I am still liable to the EMF. So I find it useful to remind myself of the EMF periodically so that it feels more natural seeking other people’s advice, seeking collaborations, acknowledging that I may have missed many things when considering a problem.
So, what are the implications of EMF for meditation?
- Letting your brain do some work is good, because good thinking takes time.
- Whatever conclusions you’ve reached about meditation and mindfulness so far are not necessarily the final conclusions you will reach, even if you don’t learn anything new about the practices.