April 6, 2021

Intentional naiveté

Intentional naiveté is my way of approaching new concepts and ideas.

Being intentionally naive is often difficult because others might see it as being superficial. Many people probably feel that it is wrong to talk about difficult topics without deep prior knowledge. In order to have certain conversations it is often required to appear knowledgeable. We are incentivized to repeat the conclusions of experts (as a way of signaling experience) even if we haven’t given much thought on the way those conclusions were actually reached.

Intentional naiveté might not be the optimal approach if the goal is to make collective progress as fast as possible. Learning through personal experience often involves repeating the same steps that others have gone through in the past. But if the goal is personal growth, then intentional naiveté can be a useful mindset to reach a deep understanding of new ideas. Perhaps even more importantly, it encourages a curious and playful attitude towards the world.


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