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Cause-effect was always a broken narrative. Twice-broken when you attach a pricetag.
(sh.itjust.works)
this post was submitted on 19 Mar 2025
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Showerthoughts
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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted clever little truths, hidden in daily life.
Here are some examples to inspire your own showerthoughts:
- Both “200” and “160” are 2 minutes in microwave math
- When you’re a kid, you don’t realize you’re also watching your mom and dad grow up.
- More dreams have been destroyed by alarm clocks than anything else
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Causality, like entropy, is an emergent property that’s hard to pin down formally, but is a critical element of any narrative. I’m with you that far, but how do price tags and double breakage figure in?
Given a number of equally plausible narratives we will choose the one in which we profit the most. And argue for it. That's the second breakage.
I think we’ll choose the narrative most consistent with our existing worldview, even if it hurts our own interests.
Sometimes your worldview will offer several equally plausible narratives. With no clear "truth".
Sometimes the temptation to squint is powerful. A paycheck can do that.
I don’t think we’re usually conscious of the availability of multiple narratives to the point that we can mentally simulate each one and compare their potential utility.
The choices we consciously make are the ones that arise inside of narratives, not between narratives themselves.
I think that we are attracted to the profitable narratives, choosing them automatically and habitually, working out our case for choosing them on a semiconscious level.
Rationality here is a justifying tool, applied after the fact.