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I don't follow. The study did show correlation between altruism and # partners in the real world.

NTDF9 10y ago
There is also a strong correlation between money and # partners...all else being equal. By saying all else being equal, you are singling out one quality. If people were to judge ONLY on that quality (all else being equal) everyone gravitates towards perceived positive qualities. To prove my point look at the following statements: - All else being equal, money correlates directly with number of partners (rich have more free time/access to partners) - All else being equal, beauty correlates directly with number of partners (beautiful people have more access to partners) - All else being equal, kindness correlates directly with number of partners (kind people have partners gravitate to them and stay with them) - All else being equal, confidence correlates directly with number of partners (confident people generally have better access to partners)
- mwfunk 10y ago
  The phrase "all else being equal" does not mean what you are presenting it as. It's only used to introduce a thought experiment where someone is trying to understand the effect of one variable independently of all the other forces at work, and that person is warning the listener/reader that they are intentionally glossing over lots of other meaningful factors so that they can focus on the one factor they wish to understand. It is not a statement by the speaker that all other things actually are equal, in fact it's usually an acknowledgement that they're not. If all else really was equal, nobody would ever start a sentence with that phrase.
  - roel_v 10y ago
    What? No, it doesn't - it means 'when controlled for all variables except this one in our significance analysis'.
    - mwfunk 10y ago
      That's a more concise way of saying what I was trying to say. The person I was responding to appeared to think it was a statement that the other variables were insignificant, rather than controlled (at least that's how I interpreted their post).
      - roel_v 10y ago
        Oh ok, I got it the other way around - that gp meant a statistical concept and you just as a narrative.

NTDF9 10y ago

There is also a strong correlation between money and # partners...all else being equal. By saying all else being equal, you are singling out one quality. If people were to judge ONLY on that quality (all else being equal) everyone gravitates towards perceived positive qualities. To prove my point look at the following statements: - All else being equal, money correlates directly with number of partners (rich have more free time/access to partners) - All else being equal, beauty correlates directly with number of partners (beautiful people have more access to partners) - All else being equal, kindness correlates directly with number of partners (kind people have partners gravitate to them and stay with them) - All else being equal, confidence correlates directly with number of partners (confident people generally have better access to partners)

mwfunk 10y ago
The phrase "all else being equal" does not mean what you are presenting it as. It's only used to introduce a thought experiment where someone is trying to understand the effect of one variable independently of all the other forces at work, and that person is warning the listener/reader that they are intentionally glossing over lots of other meaningful factors so that they can focus on the one factor they wish to understand. It is not a statement by the speaker that all other things actually are equal, in fact it's usually an acknowledgement that they're not. If all else really was equal, nobody would ever start a sentence with that phrase.
- roel_v 10y ago
  What? No, it doesn't - it means 'when controlled for all variables except this one in our significance analysis'.
  - mwfunk 10y ago
    That's a more concise way of saying what I was trying to say. The person I was responding to appeared to think it was a statement that the other variables were insignificant, rather than controlled (at least that's how I interpreted their post).
    - roel_v 10y ago
      Oh ok, I got it the other way around - that gp meant a statistical concept and you just as a narrative.