CF Dictionary · Practice & Mastery
Habit
An automatized behavior. Habits can be useful (good [[practice|practice]]) or harmful (unexamined patterns).
A habit is an automatized behaviour pattern. CF treats habits as central to skill, but warns that they can also be sources of bias.
Habits can be
- Useful. Built by [[good practice]]; they save attention.
- Harmful. Built by bias or unexamined patterns; they entrench errors.
- Neutral. Neither helpful nor harmful; just routine.
CF's view
CF holds that habits can resist bias (when they encode good patterns) and can be sources of bias (when they encode bad ones). The article "Automatized Knowledge Can Resist Bias" explores this.
Forming good habits
- Identify the right pattern. Don't automatize errors.
- Practice deliberately. See deliberate-practice.
- Reflect on outcomes. Are they working?
- Iterate. Refine the habit over time.
Changing bad habits
- Notice the habit. Conscious awareness first.
- Find the trigger. What sets it off?
- Replace, don't just remove. Substitute a better habit.
- Practice the new habit. Until it's automatized.
- Be patient. Old habits are sticky.
Habits and CF epistemology
- automatized-knowledge is the goal: habits of good thinking.
- overreach is worsened by bad habits.
- paths-forward can become habit: the habit of being open to criticism.
"Habits, automatized knowledge and the subconscious can be a source of bias but can also resist bias." — criticalfallibilism.com