Thread by @patrissimo

I think a lot of internet advice comes from the wrong place in the experience hierarchy, and that's especially bad because advice has a power law distribution. Here is a draft hierarchy.

1) I heard about this cool idea.
2) I read for a few minutes about this cool idea...

3) I actually considered trying this cool idea!
4) I actually briefly tried this new thing!!
5) I did this new thing for weeks or months and it so worked!!!
6) I did this thing for years or decades and it's deeply woven into my life.

7) I've spoken with / taught a few others how to do the thing.
8) I've studied most extant research about this thing & can summarize.
9) I've spoken to / worked with / interviewed hundreds of people working on this thing (generally as a professional, or through net communities).

So many people preach shallow wisdom based on 1, 2, 3, or 4 (I used to do so a lot myself). But those are cheap, superficial, individual experiences. I have come to believe that 5 & 6 should usually be the minimum to give advice, and that 8 & 9 are vastly better.

Advice that has worked for someone long-term is easily 10x or 100x more valuable than 1,2,3,4,5. And advice based on a large cross-section of people is easily 10x or 100x more valuable than one person's experience.

Advice that is universal and easy to apply, we pretty much all know already. If someone wants advice, they generally need it individualized, and to be a full strategy (a forking tree of options & principles on when to use them), not a single pearl of wisdom.

So, I recommend you consume less 1-7 advice and more 8 (ie @slatestarcodex topic summaries) and 9 (ie crowdsourced self-help guides, wide-lens professional books based on clinical experience with a variety of approaches).

Finally, I will admit this tweet is only a 6-7.