11 ways to be less deferential

Many people worry about being too deferential about their beliefs, but rarely about the reverse. The author, who may not be deferential enough, offers advice from a conversation with Joe Carlsmith. Accepting that you will be ignorant and having views anyway is helpful because everyone is fairly ignorant, public discussion shouldn't be limited to those unaware of their ignorance, guessing and being corrected is often more efficient than exhaustive reading, and being informed can reduce independent thinking. Being out of the loop can help generate independent views. Focus on high-level questions, like whether basic strategy is wrong—these are often neglected. Intellectual deference follows status patterns, so being high status or arrogant helps, or you can talk to lower-status people like children. Being raised to distrust others' thinking is ideal but hard to acquire later.