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Alisa's learning plan
=====================
-Last updated 2021-02-02. (See also my [Paths Forward doc](pf.md).)
-
-Posting daily since 2019-10-12. (~[448](https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=number+of+days+between+2019-10-12+and+2021-02-02) days without a gap!)
-
-Note: By "FI post" I mean a message sent to a private or [public](http://fallibleideas.com/discussion) Fallible Ideas discussion list or a comment posted to [curi.us](http://curi.us).
-
-# Goals
-
-## Figure out my life goal(s)
-
-My current life goal is to figure out a better life goal.
-
-I wrote a few FI comments about life goals (which I sometimes called "high-level goals"):
-
-- [high-level goals and bottlenecks, examples of high-level goals](http://curi.us/2204-alisa-discussion#18268)
-- [depravity](http://curi.us/2204-alisa-discussion#18276) and ["the man without a purpose"](http://curi.us/2204-alisa-discussion#18277)
-- [trying to reverse-engineer my high-level goals from my low-level goals](http://curi.us/2204-alisa-discussion#18305)
-- [impasses, improvement goals vs maintenance goals](http://curi.us/2028-writing-tips#18454)
-- [thinking about trying to do something great with my life](http://curi.us/2204-alisa-discussion#18381)
-
-This is an important, interesting problem. I added a column to my spreadsheet for "goals minutes". Until I figure out my life goal(s), I intend to spend at least 5 minutes of FI posting time per day thinking about or freewriting about this topic.
-
-## Practice conversational writing
-
-I have a habit of writing in an overly stiff or formal way. I don't write like I talk. I want to try writing more conversationally, but I still want the benefits I get from editing my text. In http://curi.us/2204-alisa-discussion#18413 , I suggested:
-
-> Maybe I should try for conversational first drafts and then edit from there.
-
-curi agreed that this sounded like a good idea.
-
-I updated my TTS policy (below) to encourage me to write conversationally. Basically, I don't have to TTS any sentence that I write conversationally, from beginning to end. If I go back to a sentence I already finished and make some edits, then I would still need to TTS the result. I think this makes sense, because my natural process of generating text doesn't create the annoying kinds of errors that I needed TTS to fix.
-
-Getting better at writing conversationally may also help me get better at thinking out loud. One way it could help me do this is by shortening the amount of time it takes me to write posts. I wrote about this in [a curi.us comment](http://curi.us/2204-alisa-discussion#18275).
-
-## Practice freewriting
-
-My goal is to freewrite every day for at least 5 minutes. I've had this goal since 2020-10-05, and as of 2020-11-11, I've made approximately zero progress towards it. To help me remember to do it, I added a column for "freewriting minutes" to my the spreadsheet where I track my daily FI posting time. When I update my learning plan in the future, I will include the minimum amount of time I spent freewriting for any day during the period as well as the average amount of time spent freewriting over the period.
-
-## Post to FI every day
-
-My goal is to post at least once per day, except when I'm taking a break. I may take up to two breaks per year, each of which could last for up to two weeks. Starting 2019-12-01, I will log (in my records) the URL of at least one of the FI posts I make each day.
-
-I've started using a program called asciinema to make screencasts of my terminal when I compose some of my FI posts. I expect this will help me be able to look back later to see how I made particular mistakes in my posts.
-
-My FI posting screencasts are available at [asciinema.org/~petrogradphilos](https://asciinema.org/~petrogradphilos). (Unfortunately, the asciinema.org screencast player doesn't (yet?) let you adjust the playback speed dynamically, like you can with YouTube, but you can change it by appending "?speed=X" to the URL ([example](https://asciinema.org/a/282250?speed=4)) and re-loading.)
-
-## Keep my FI posting error rate low
-
-[In order to learn, one's error rate needs to be sufficiently low](http://fallibleideas.com/gradualism). I plan to keep my FI posting error rate low enough that I can [write a postmortem for every posting mistake I find out about](http://curi.us/2204-alisa-discussion#12940).
-
-### Postmortems
-
-Postmortems I've posted to FI:
-
-- [Postmortem: missed videos to download](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/fallible-ideas/9NjXRNmY6CI/T1ueIWh7AwAJ) (2019-05-02). Lessons: write down goals; treat everyone and everything (including myself!) as a buggy program unless they have demonstrated otherwise; don't ignore my intuition; write about my current level of organization/brainstorm ways to improve.
-- [Postmortem: incorrect quoting](http://curi.us/comments/show/13785) (2019-09-18). Lessons: N/A.
-- [Postmortem: missing footnote label](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/fallible-ideas/pRsGSxCL1yA/TREscHcuCAAJ) (2019-09-25). Lessons: add footnote label check to my post checker; take breaks between re-reading posts before sending.
-- [Postmortem: typo: misspelled domain name](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/fallible-ideas/h-gtuC-P_EQ/omtJ0ROwCwAJ) (2019-10-03). Lessons: add unique word check to my post checker.
-- [Postmortem: almost-blank comment](http://curi.us/comments/show/13549) (2019-10-13). Lessons: N/A.
-- [Postmortem: missing/incorrect quote attribution](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/fallible-ideas/6cJ2hu2XHbA/JZJ2dZDsDgAJ) (2019-10-30). Lessons: Always add the quote attribution (e.g., "Somebody wrote" or "Somebody continues:") *before* pasting any quote.
-- [Postmortem: incorrect quoting](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/fallible-ideas/B0Tpvgb1jVE/UcXL5a2ECAAJ) (2019-11-14). Lessons: check for quote attributions when trimming extra text; make [screencasts when I write posts](https://asciinema.org/~petrogradphilos).
-- [Postmortem: inconsistent bullet point punctuation](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/fallible-ideas/XMTJpR6l2no/ZJEsvG5FEAAJ) (2020-01-12). Lessons: add bullet point punctuation check to my post checker.
-- [Postmortem: not trying to understand the entire sentence](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/fallible-ideas/CwbIlTj8Cao/5IpQS33QCwAJ) (2020-01-19). Lessons: Whenever I post about not understanding something, include a grammatical analysis of the key sentence(s) I didn't understand.
-- [Postmortem: incorrect spelling/capitalization of proper nouns](http://curi.us/comments/show/15633) (2020-02-26). Lessons: use post checker on curi.us comments (not just FI list posts); treat proper nouns like strings of Chinese characters.
-- [Postmortem: typo in abbreviation](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/fallible-ideas/pQrAggIoc7o/yob-I34DAQAJ) (2020-04-06). Lessons: post checker should run *automatically* before I mail a post.
-- [Postmortem: typo in post title](http://curi.us/comments/show/16409) (2020-04-20). Lessons: I need to see everything that I paste.
-- [Postmortem: thinking that I said something that I didn't say](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/fallible-ideas/LGDePsm8FO8/GWaJJRGnAAAJ) (2020-05-02). Lessons: Practice looking for refutations instead of non-refutations.
-- [Postmortem: incorrect comment number](http://curi.us/comments/show/16581) (2020-05-26). Lessons: consider updating my post checker to check that the comment I cite contains the text I quoted.
-- [Postmortem: malformed URL](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/fallible-ideas/yUBdRZSvglM/Ept2Gw58BwAJ) (2020-06-12). Lessons: Updated my post checker.
-- [Postmortem: incomplete comment](http://curi.us/comments/show/16743) (2020-06-19). Lesson: consider composing curi.us comments in a separate editor window.
-- [Postmortem: thinking I understood a term that I didn't](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/fallible-ideas/VYpRwJLiGKY/W4NfL1pxAgAJ) (2020-06-23). Lesson: consider looking up any term that I notice I'm using for the first time.
-- [Postmortem: a second mistake with clauses](https://groups.google.com/d/msg/fallible-ideas/jTdIqbzgKfc/YBgcfcnfAQAJ) (2020-07-02). Lesson: There's something wrong with the way I think about postmortems or mistakes or learning.
-- [Postmortem: a third mistake with clauses](https://groups.google.com/d/msg/fallible-ideas/_yDGK0Oumj4/WfVahhquAgAJ) (2020-08-01). Lesson: Learn to identify phrases and clauses with full confidence.
-- [Postmortem: math error](http://curi.us/2204-alisa-discussion#17410) (2020-08-14). Lesson: Sanity-check all math calculations.
-- [Postmortem: non sequitur (didn't respond to the main point)](http://curi.us/comments/show/18173) (2020-09-29). Lesson: be able to state what I think is the central point of whatever I'm replying to.
-- [Postmortem: thinking I understood something when I didn't](http://curi.us/comments/show/18231). Lessons: (1) continue to give examples of my thinking, and (2) I don't know how to tell whether I understand a term well enough to use it.
-
-## Update this document often enough
-
-I plan to update this document at least once per month.
-
-# Writing checklist
-
-Below is a list of things I am learning to check for when writing FI posts. (To encourage people to point out my writing mistakes, I'm considering offering a bounty for mistakes in my posts of the type I care about.)
-
-## Math errors
-
-I intend to sanity-check every math calculation in my posts. One way to do this would be to run the calculation in [Wolfram Alpha](http://wolframalpha.com) or some other calculator.
-
-## Typos and grammar errors
-
-### TTS policy
+Last updated 2021-11-26. (See also my [Paths Forward doc](pf.md).)
-I plan to listen to each sentence with text-to-speech (TTS) before sending, unless I wrote the entire sentence conversationally (i.e., sort of listening to the voice in my head and writing what it says, as if I were speaking by typing, or as if I were typing quickly to a friend over chat.). Any edits to a clause in a previously-finished sentence trigger a new listen to that clause. I started following this TTS policy for all of my FI posts [in 2019-08](http://curi.us/2204-alisa-discussion#c13201).
-
-### Unique words policy
-
-I plan to check every post for words that occur exactly once in my post *and* that occur neither in the system dictionary nor in my personal dictionary.
-
-It's easier for me to notice mistakes by looking away from the screen and listening to TTS than by looking at the screen and reading it myself. I want quick, reliable feedback on a wide variety of typos. TTS provides that.
-
-## Clarity of references
-
-References are words/phrases like "it", "he", "they", "the argument", etc. To help with clarity, I plan to check whether or not each reference is better than replacing it with a statement of the thing being referenced. This check was suggested by [Elliot Temple in an FI list post on 2018-04-24](https://groups.google.com/d/msg/fallible-ideas/vqRGArolXEs/b2eFQAD_AQAJ). Any error in clarity of references counts as an error.
-
-## Other mistakes I care about
-
-In addition to the above, I'm focused on avoiding the following kinds of mistakes:
-
-- false statements
-- unclear statements
-- non sequiturs
-- formatting errors
-
-## Re-sharing stuff
-
-I plan to avoid re-sharing stuff unless I can state in words both (a) why people share it and (b) what it means to the standard audience. I believe this will help prevent me from being part of the replication cycle of certain nasty social memes. (The idea for this policy, along with most of its wording, was [brought to my attention](http://curi.us/comments/show/16523) by Elliot Temple.)
-
-## Topic sentences
-
-The [topic sentence](https://owl.english.purdue.edu/engagement/2/1/29/) is the sentence that identifies the main idea in a paragraph.
-
-The topic sentence is usually the first sentence in a paragraph.
-
-Starting 2019-09-16, before reading or sending any FI post, I aim to reread the first sentence of each paragraph. (The idea of scanning for topic sentences was suggested by [Elliot Temple in an FI list post on 2018-04-24](https://groups.google.com/d/msg/fallible-ideas/vqRGArolXEs/b2eFQAD_AQAJ).)
-
-## Explaining thinking
-
-When commenting on other people's writing, the author should explain their own thinking.
-
-[Elliot Temple, "not having fun studying Atlas Shrugged" (2018-03-19)](https://groups.google.com/d/msg/fallible-ideas/NFRgxMs4hlo/WZEhhccxBAAJ):
-
-> you could say things like:
->
-> - what you think it’s saying, what [the author's] point is
-> - whether you agree and why
-> - whether you think it’s important or interesting and why
-> - how/why it’s relevant to you or not
-
-## Grammatically analyzing sentences
-
-In any message I post about not understanding something, I will include a grammatical analysis of the key sentence(s) that I didn't understand. This will help ensure that I made a reasonable attempt to understand the literal meaning of what the person said or wrote.
-
-# Philosophy topics to learn and write about
-
-Here are the philosophy topics I plan to learn and write about, in order of descending priority:
-
-1. Hazlitt, *Thinking As A Science*
-2. Reisman, *Capitalism*
-3. [Elliot Temple, *Yes or No Philosophy*](https://yesornophilosophy.com/). I've [posted my answers](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/fallible-ideas/subject$3A%22check$20your$20understanding%22$20alisa%7Csort:date) to 10 of the 16 questions from section 17 - "Check Your Understanding".
-
-## Replies to me by top FI list posters:
-
-I intend to revisit these once I finish Yes or No Philosophy.
-
-- [Elliot Temple, "Alisa's discussion problems" (2018-03-17)](https://groups.google.com/d/msg/fallible-ideas/oBTrRn09DWY/fzVunL-bAwAJ)
-- [Self-driving cars discussion with anon (2018-04)](https://groups.google.com/d/msg/fallible-ideas/Xz3ybsxSlNU/dbAPdqHjCQAJ) (Note: Be more curious instead of debating.)
-- [anonymous FI, "One word fitting your meaning better than another" (2018-04-29)](https://groups.google.com/d/msg/fallible-ideas/CiBA3BiIzwk/xEd8pJrxBAAJ) (Note: Reply to this once I finish YESNO. I was trying to make a decision chart of which word to use. I should find a way to do this without disabling my common sense knowledge.)
-- [Anonymous FI, "giving your kids money" (2018-04-29)](https://groups.google.com/d/msg/fallible-ideas/H_YEMQvZm8s/jhVc2oEhBQAJ) (Note: Reply after I finish YESNO.)
-- [Elliot Temple, "Simple topics to practice thinking precisely" (2014-05-07)](https://groups.google.com/d/msg/fallible-ideas/x3okSTJbdd8/mcZEvwIPqjcJ)
-- [Thread: "using reason in all areas of life" (2016-09)](https://groups.google.com/d/msg/fallible-ideas/dHsCopRtV1Y/pK1vYfJ7BgAJ)
-- [Elliot Temple, "How I improved at mouse aiming" (2016-09-11)](https://groups.google.com/d/msg/fallible-ideas/8-HWJEu_YQQ/dI9-HU0hAgAJ) and [Elliot's follow-up](https://groups.google.com/d/msg/fallible-ideas/8-HWJEu_YQQ/dI9-HU0hAgAJ)
-- [Thread, "writing simple things about TCS (was: Alisa's simple stuff)" (2016-09)](https://groups.google.com/d/msg/fallible-ideas/LmD8ggVcN2w/PSydIcwIBQAJ)
-- [Thread, "aiding static memes" (2016-07)](https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/fallible-ideas/conversations/topics/11392) (including how whims violate each of the Objectivist virtues)
-- [Thread, "acting on whims violates the Objectivist virtues" (2016-08)](https://groups.google.com/d/msg/fallible-ideas/CFiTZSa2ffM/pYf_gOEiBgAJ)
-- Other replies to me from on or before 2016-07-18
-
-## My reading list
-
-My [reading list](https://hg.sr.ht/~petrogradphilosopher/fi/browse/default/reading.md) has more stuff that I intend to read at some point.
-
-# Things to revisit, with dates
-
-Here is a partial list of topics I plan to revisit, along with the date by when I plan to have posted on the topic.
-
-- 2021-06-24: Check for Critical Fallibilism website & post about it. I am reliably informed that this site will have ideas that are relevant to learning how to not want to be stuck forever. "it has some things to say about bounded and unbounded! (wanting to be stuck on some topics = bounded)." (Issue raised by [Elliot Temple on 2018-04-19](https://groups.google.com/d/msg/fallible-ideas/xR4JE-Br6AE/C1adbctHAAAJ).)
-- 2022-02-01 Ideas for combating bias. I admit I'm biased, but I want to make the best decisions. How can I deal with my own biases? (Issue raised by [Elliot Temple on 2018-04-19](https://groups.google.com/d/msg/fallible-ideas/xR4JE-Br6AE/EbBb9RZHAAAJ).)
- - 2019-10-13 update: I hope my ability to answer this question will improve as I learn more about Yes or No Philosophy. I bumped the year in the review date from 2019 to 2021.
-l - 2021-02-02 update: Bumped the year in the review date from 2021 to 2022. Same reason as previous update.
-- 2022-01-01 Improve my ability to deal with criticism of my important ideas. If I can't have a conversation about one of my ideas, then even if someone would be able to explain why it's hurting me, I won't be able to get that information from them. Hiding my ideas implies not taking reasonable precautions to prevent holding on to a harmful idea forever. I could start to fix this by sharing a less significant but still personal idea. (Issue raised by [Elliot Temple on 2018-04-19](https://groups.google.com/d/msg/fallible-ideas/xR4JE-Br6AE/EbBb9RZHAAAJ).)
- - 2019-10-13 update: I hope my ability to deal with criticism of my important ideas will improve as I learn more about Yes or No Philosophy. I bumped the year in the review date from 2019 to 2021.
-l - 2021-02-02 update: Bumped the year in the review date from 2021 to 2022. Same reason as previous update.
-- 2021-04-13: Revisit "how do you decide what you want?" question. Elliot Temple asked me this question and I didn't know how to answer. I thought at the time that it was too hard for me and said I would revisit the topic in a year. (Issue raised by [Elliot Temple on 2018-04-10](https://groups.google.com/d/msg/fallible-ideas/xR4JE-Br6AE/CB9plKL3CAAJ).)
- - 2019-10-13 update: I re-read the thread and still don't have a good answer. I bumped the year in the review date from 2019 to 2021.
-- 2022-01-01 - [Elliot Temple, "Lying"](https://www.elliottemple.com/essays/lying). Analyze this essay. The addition of this item to my reading list was prompted by this reply to me: [Elliot Temple, "Alisa's discussion problems" (2018-03-17)](https://groups.google.com/d/msg/fallible-ideas/oBTrRn09DWY/fzVunL-bAwAJ)
- - 2019-10-13 update: I plan to revisit this after I better understand grammar and Yes or No philosophy. I bumped the year in the review date from 2019 to 2021.
-l - 2021-02-02 update: Bumped the year in the review date from 2021 to 2022. Same reason as previous update.
+I have no current published learning plan. Previous versions of my learning plan are available at https://hg.sr.ht/~petrogradphilosopher/fi/log/lp.md?rev=tip .