Past / Future Selves and Intrinsic Values (with Simone Collins)
Spencer Greenberg speaks with Simone Collins about self-awareness, emotional control, accelerating learning, defining intrinsic values, and societal contrast versus compromise.
Deep Dive Analysis
16 Topic Outline
The Ship of Theseus and Human Identity
Defining the Self and Future Self for Goal Achievement
Personal Evolution and Purging the Past
Cultivating Self-Awareness and Emotional Control
Effective Strategies for Habit Formation
Making Education Engaging and Applicable
Accelerating Children's Learning and Genius Cultivation
The Impact of Environment on Motivation and Addiction
Parenting Philosophy and Unconditional Love
Understanding and Expressing Emotions: Sadness vs. Anger
The Role of Framing in Emotional Experience
Debating the Intrinsic Value and Pursuit of Happiness
Challenges in Identifying Intrinsic Values
A Pragmatic Perspective on Death and Euthanasia
Bureaucracy's Role in Causing Suffering
Navigating Life with Principles: Middle Path vs. Binary
6 Key Concepts
Ship of Theseus
A philosophical thought experiment exploring identity, where an object (like a ship or a human body) has all its original components replaced over time, raising the question of whether it remains the same entity or if a duplicate made of the original parts is the 'real' one.
Self as a Collective
Simone's mental model where she views her past, present, and future selves as an 'army' or 'soldiers' fighting for the greater purpose and values of her ideal self, rather than being a single, continuous entity.
Self-Trolley Problem
A hypothetical scenario, invented by Simone, where one chooses to sacrifice their present self if another entity (even an alien) could better embody and achieve their core values.
Habit Reflection
A three-step technique for habit formation that involves recalling a past successful habit change, writing down the effective strategies used, and then applying those strategies to a new desired habit.
Tend and Befriend
A proposed stress response, often observed in females, where individuals protect their offspring and seek social support or alliances, contrasting with the more commonly cited 'fight or flight' response.
Intrinsic Values
Fundamental values that are cherished for their own sake, independent of any other effects they might produce, and which one would continue to value even if they led to no other benefits.
8 Questions Answered
One effective strategy is to contextualize oneself as a collective entity (e.g., an 'army of selves') working towards an ideal future self, making it easier to perform tasks for that future self.
The 'habit reflection' technique involves recalling a past successful habit, writing down what strategies worked, and then applying those strategies to the new habit.
By providing a clear 'why' for learning the material, demonstrating its real-world applicability (like using math to understand traffic), and allowing children to explore topics in digestible, relevant ways.
She believes happiness has no inherent value, is an emergent property of successfully pursuing one's values, and is often self-defeating to pursue directly.
This can happen if individuals are not clear on their true intrinsic values and are mindlessly pursuing a narrow definition of happiness or 'default values' rather than what truly matters to them.
Society needs to shift its 'toxic approach' to death, moving away from prolonging suffering at all costs and embracing euthanasia options that allow individuals to die with dignity and on their own terms, with appropriate safeguards against impulsive decisions.
Offense can signal a threat to one's assumptions, and by digging into what is threatening, one can discover if their assumptions are wrong, leading to correction and a better understanding of the truth.
It's about identity, asking whether an object remains the same after all its parts have been replaced, or if a duplicate made of the original parts is the 'real' one.
24 Actionable Insights
1. Investigate Your Offenses
When something offends or threatens you, deeply investigate why, as this emotional reaction often signals a potential flaw in your own assumptions or a truth you’re resisting, providing an opportunity for self-correction and growth.
2. Pursue Values, Not Happiness
Instead of directly pursuing happiness, focus on the effective pursuit of your core values, as happiness is an emergent byproduct of successfully achieving what you genuinely care about.
3. Test Values with Extremes
To clarify your true intrinsic values, engage in thought experiments that push concepts to their extreme conclusions, forcing you to consider what you would truly prioritize if you had to sacrifice everything else for one value.
4. Identify Intrinsic Values
Use tools like the intrinsic values test on clearerthinking.org to reflect on and identify your most fundamental values, which are valued for their own sake and influence your behavior and goals.
5. Avoid Default Values
Be wary of adopting ‘default’ or socially acceptable values without deep personal reflection, as this can lead to a lack of fulfillment and indicates a failure to genuinely think through your own purpose.
6. Reframe Emotional Experiences
Actively choose how you frame and contextualize events, as this can profoundly alter your emotional experience of them, allowing you to find different meanings or connections, even in difficult situations.
7. Avoid Indulging Emotions
When experiencing heightened emotions like anger or sadness, avoid indulging in them, as this can reinforce the emotion and prevent you from addressing the underlying problem causing the distress.
8. Model Your Future Self
Adopt an external perspective to model your future self, predicting your behavior based on past actions and personality, similar to how you’d predict others, to effectively direct your own actions and achieve goals.
9. Apply Habit Reflection
To form new habits, reflect on a past successful habit change, write down the strategies that worked for you in that instance, and then write down how to apply those specific strategies to your current habit goal.
10. Use Bets for Habits
To assess and improve your commitment to new habits, imagine making a bet on your success; if you wouldn’t take the bet, identify what changes are needed to make you confident enough to do so.
11. View Self as Collective
Frame your identity as a collective of past, present, and future selves, all working as ‘soldiers’ to serve the greater purpose of your ideal self and the values you embody. This can make difficult tasks feel like altruistic service to your future self.
12. Connect with Future Self
Recognize that how you view your future self (as distinct or continuous with your present self) can significantly alter your behavior, encouraging you to make choices that benefit your future.
13. Write Future Self Letters
Regularly write letters to your future self (e.g., in three weeks, six months, five years) to reflect on your current thoughts, motivations, and ambitions, helping you recognize personal growth and estrangement from past selves.
14. Maintain Life Timeline
Create and regularly review a timeline of your life, such as a spreadsheet with interesting events for each month, to connect with your past narrative and progression, especially if you are naturally future-oriented.
15. Define Self by Purpose
Define your ‘self’ not by your current state, but by the purpose you serve, such as embodying your values and goals, as this perspective can influence your actions and choices.
16. Prioritize Values Over Self
If faced with a choice between your own well-being and something that better embodies your core values, choose the option that serves your values more effectively, even if it means personal sacrifice.
17. Redefine Self-Interest
Understand that actions seemingly selfless, like taking suffering upon yourself to spare others, can be driven by a deeper self-interest if they align with your core values and prevent greater emotional turmoil.
18. Radically Change Environment
For deep-seated issues like addiction, mental problems, or lack of motivation, consider a complete dislocation from your existing environment to eliminate old cues and provide a fresh start for a new identity and behavior.
19. Explain “Why” in Education
When teaching, always explain the practical relevance and utility of the information to the learner, providing a compelling reason for them to engage with and understand the material.
20. Pre-Question Learning Material
Before engaging with new learning material, formulate and attempt to answer questions related to the topic, which primes your mind to pay closer attention and better absorb the information.
21. Simplify Complex Learning
To accelerate learning, especially for complex subjects or young learners, create simplified versions of the material that are digestible and engaging at their current developmental stage.
22. Unthrottle Learning Exposure
Avoid restricting children’s exposure to learning opportunities and allow them to fully engage with and explore subjects that capture their interest, provided it’s digestible and relevant to them.
23. Foster Diverse Aptitudes
Design environments, such as schools, that allow individuals to thrive by leveraging their unique aptitudes and contributions, rather than solely focusing on traditional academic performance.
24. Parent for Diversified Legacy
View having children as a way to ’live forever’ and diversify your legacy, allowing them to potentially correct your mistakes or pursue different paths, thus hedging your bets on what constitutes ‘right’ in the world.
6 Key Quotes
If you find something offends you, dig into it because it could be a sign that you are wrong in your assumptions.
Simone Collins
My perspective on happiness is that it has no inherent value and it should not be pursued.
Simone Collins
I'm just acting in service to my future self. And it can be oddly satisfying. You know, you're bustling around, oh, better clean this up for future Simone. She'll be so happy to see a clean room.
Simone Collins
I want to become better. And I feel that if I hold on to my past, it may prevent me from doing that successfully. That the more I can make myself into a blank slate, the less I can be driven by old prejudices and baggage.
Simone Collins
I don't want kids to be happy. I want kids for other purposes.
Simone Collins
The real ship of Theseus or Bob is whichever one serves the purpose of that ship or person.
Simone Collins
2 Protocols
Habit Reflection Technique
Spencer Greenberg- Think about a prior habit or behavior change that you succeeded at where it went well.
- Write down what worked for you with that previous habit formation, including effective strategies.
- Write down how you can apply those strategies in your current habit goal.
Ideal Euthanasia Program
Simone Collins- Apply for assisted suicide.
- Undergo a vetting program to ensure the decision is not impulsive.
- (For young/healthy individuals not terminally ill) Consider a complete dislocation from their existing life, including changing identity, name, and job, to determine if the desire to die is tied to circumstances.
- Receive a comfortable and dignified method of death, such as an intravenous drug, rather than a difficult-to-administer oral medication.