This is a link post.

Thanks to Kaj Sotala, Brian Toomey, Stag Lynn, Ethan Kuntz, and Anna Salamon.

There's no way that chronic depression, self-loathing, poor agency, or muscle tension could be optimal… right?

Jake was depressed for 6 months. He also felt horrible every time he interacted with other people because of his emotional insecurities.

So without knowing how to outgrow his insecurities, his system basically had two options:

Interact with other people — and constantly feel horrible
Don’t interact with anyone unless absolutely necessary

So his system converged on the second option, also known as “depression”.

Depression certainly wasn’t the globally optimal strategy, but given the options, it was a locally optimal strategy.

Depression, the best strategy known and accessible at the time.

Once he outgrew his emotional insecurities, however, he was no longer blocked on the better optimum of both interacting with others and not feeling [...]

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Outline:

(01:20) More examples of locally optimal strategies

(03:08) How common are locally optimal strategies?

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First published:
November 23rd, 2024

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/49wHLSvotiJSYwGX6/locally-optimal-psychology

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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“Locally optimal psychology” by Chipmonk

LessWrong (30+ Karma)