On: Body Doubling

[Spivak]

What’s the question you want the research to answer?

Because you don’t really need a study to figure out if it works for you. Just try it! Because I can literally feel my understimulation block fade when there’s another person around — it stokes a little guilt and anxiety to get you started and then they act like a pace runner providing some artificial forward momentum.

It’s not one of those things where you won’t be sure whether it’s working or not.

[autoexec → Spivak]

> What’s the question you want the research to answer?

Is it actually effective at all? Who is it effective/ineffective for? Why is it effective or ineffective for them? How effective is it? How can its effectiveness be optimized? In what other ways can its effectiveness be achieved? What other types of problems can this be used to help with?

Maybe I try it and find that it works, but maybe that's simply a placebo, the way someone might find that crystals or charms help them. It's easy to say it shouldn't matter so long as it works for someone, but I think we'd agree that its better to have things properly researched and understood.

Maybe I try it and it doesn't work but could have with some modifications to accommodate my needs or situation. Maybe a sort of digital avatar or AI works or can work just as well for a body double as a real person! Maybe it even works better than a real person in some cases! How great would it be not to always have to coordinate schedules with another person or impose on their time to get those same benefits! Maybe employers could benefit from pairing people for work in certain tasks!

It's all idle speculation, theory, and guesswork until people put in the time and effort to research it all properly. The anecdotal evidence is encouraging, but only the start.