Strong take, loosely held: I find that Rationalists, longevity types, “biohackers”, and “body work” advocates are often making a common mistake that I’ll call “trying to solve the problem yourself instead of identifying and deferring to experts.” Here are some (I claim) false beliefs that I commonly encounter:

  • I am special. My problems are hyper-specific. The normal solutions don’t work for me. I need special care and treatment. Alternative therapies might work for me. I shouldn’t just do the obvious thing first and stick with it.
  • Scientific consensus isn’t everything; it can be improved on by individual experimentation. My investigations are scientifically valid. I can infer meaningful causal relationships in my self-studies, even when I don’t blind myself or control for extraneous variables.
  • I have unique, reliable knowledge of my body, health, and internal experience that categorically enables me to make better decisions than professionals. All of my perceptions are true and I am not susceptible to placebo, nocebo, and magical thinking.

I think all of the above beliefs are true in specific instances, but I often see them taken to the extreme. I think it’s great to do personal research on health and to listen to your body, but I think one should be wary of trusting one’s own judgement over bona fide expert opinion, especially where it’s easy to trick oneself with magical thinking. In general, the simple explanation is usually true and humans are really good at tricking themselves into feeling exceptional.