“Trying the Obvious Thing” by PranavG, Gabriel Alfour

I am quite harsh in impersonal settings, such as on the Internet or at work. Attention is a scarce resource, and I am stingy with it. The world is Out To Get Us. In many ways, nice or not.

Social Media platforms explicitly try to capture our attention. Children, despite being wonderful, are foremost an attention pit. It's always possible to do more for them. The same goes for People Being Wrong On The Internet or Social Obligations.

At large, too many get got, and do not have enough attention left to reflect. This traps them in situations that they cannot escape: reflecting is what would let them see a way out in the first place.

You ought to meditate 20 minutes a day. Unless you're too busy. Then you ought to meditate 1 hour a day.

Trying the Obvious Thing

This is why I have built some defence [...]

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Outline:

(01:01) Trying the Obvious Thing

(01:20) The Weak

(02:15) Fake Experts

(04:33) What counts as the Obvious Thing?

(05:25) Conclusion

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First published:
July 16th, 2025

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/Zpqhds4dmLaBwTcnp/trying-the-obvious-thing

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.