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jackWhat superstitions do you have?
I don't actually believe any supernatural things. I do have a certain amount of habits that could be superstition, like not jinxing an outcome by saying it's certain before it's been confirmed.
And I guess, some habits that just make me feel good, like running a set of tests several times, just to feel the reassurance that they're all passing. Or if a new test passes first time, deliberately breaking the code just to make sure the test exists.
What is your favorite pen to write with and why?
I don't have a special special pen that I always like to use, but I like having a plentiful supply of medium to good quality ballpoints so I can always rely on having a decent non-flaky pen when I want to write anything. Getting rid of miscellaneous doubtful pens and keeping a supply of ones I like using has made me feel more comfortable in my life.
In fact, that might be a trend with me. I tend to rarely have special things, perhaps from dislike that they will only last so long, or might get ruined. But I appreciate treating myself to a good baseline by having good ish things as a standard.
I don't actually believe any supernatural things. I do have a certain amount of habits that could be superstition, like not jinxing an outcome by saying it's certain before it's been confirmed.
And I guess, some habits that just make me feel good, like running a set of tests several times, just to feel the reassurance that they're all passing. Or if a new test passes first time, deliberately breaking the code just to make sure the test exists.
What is your favorite pen to write with and why?
I don't have a special special pen that I always like to use, but I like having a plentiful supply of medium to good quality ballpoints so I can always rely on having a decent non-flaky pen when I want to write anything. Getting rid of miscellaneous doubtful pens and keeping a supply of ones I like using has made me feel more comfortable in my life.
In fact, that might be a trend with me. I tend to rarely have special things, perhaps from dislike that they will only last so long, or might get ruined. But I appreciate treating myself to a good baseline by having good ish things as a standard.
no subject
Date: 2020-08-18 10:06 am (UTC)I have a theory about this behaviour, which is that it can be rationalised¹ as reducing the contribution to your expected unhappiness from the possibility that the nice outcome is cancelled or otherwise snatched away at the last minute.
That event's contribution to your expected unhappiness is the product of its probability, and how unhappy it makes you. Clearly it is superstitious to think that prematurely regarding the nice outcome as certain might increase the probability of it being cancelled. But it's less obviously wrong to think that prematurely regarding the nice outcome as certain might increase your disappointment if it's cancelled. So by keeping in mind that it's not certain yet, you reduce the unhappiness factor in the (probability × unhappiness) term of the overall expected utility function, which is a perfectly sensible thing to be trying to do.
¹ by which I mean exactly that: I don't mean to say that this really is why people do it, only that it's a way in which it is not totally without merit even if your reason for doing it makes less sense