3 ms·

Alternatively: If I'm getting paid for factually-correct answers, I'm less likely to throw away money by using my answers as an opportunity to signal my ideolog

Alternatively: If I'm getting paid for factually-correct answers, I'm less likely to throw away money by using my answers as an opportunity to signal my ideology.

jstanley 10y ago
If your ideology is at odds with factual correctness... maybe you should rethink your ideology?
- ForHackernews 10y ago
  You can say that, but [almost] everyone has ideological beliefs that conflict with the best available evidence. Maybe you rationalize it to yourself that "well, the jury's still out...those studies aren't conclusive" or "yes, but in principle my belief is correct, it's just that X, Y and Z are confounding variables so..."
- twoquestions 10y ago
  Hardly! Professing belief in something blatantly untrue is a wonderful social signal, it says you're willing to stick with the in-group no matter what! Example: Someone close to me thinks the Detroit Lions are the best football team.
  - bduerst 10y ago
    Which seems like harmless, lightheared tribalism, sure, but there are many forms of tribalism that have quantifiable negative impact. Even for Midwest football: http://qje.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2011/03/21/qje.qjr001.full http://qje.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2011/03/21/qje.q...
    - twoquestions 10y ago
      I meant to be subtle about this, and you raise an excellent point. Tribalism is great for the in-group members and the in-group itself, but it can be horrifying to out-group members and greater society.
      - bduerst 10y ago
        The point was that suspending critical thinking to belong to a tribe has consequences when reality catches up, unless you're trying to imply that abused wives are not part of an out-group.
- __jal 10y ago
  Humans as a whole have a revealed preference for tribal cohesion over accepting reality. It was probably a beneficial trait when the Dunbar number roughly matched the number of people with in a day's communication.

Alternatively: If I'm getting paid for factually-correct answers, I'm less likely to throw away money by using my answers as an opportunity to signal my ideology.

jstanley 10y ago

If your ideology is at odds with factual correctness... maybe you should rethink your ideology?

ForHackernews 10y ago
You can say that, but [almost] everyone has ideological beliefs that conflict with the best available evidence. Maybe you rationalize it to yourself that "well, the jury's still out...those studies aren't conclusive" or "yes, but in principle my belief is correct, it's just that X, Y and Z are confounding variables so..."
twoquestions 10y ago
Hardly! Professing belief in something blatantly untrue is a wonderful social signal, it says you're willing to stick with the in-group no matter what! Example: Someone close to me thinks the Detroit Lions are the best football team.
- bduerst 10y ago
  Which seems like harmless, lightheared tribalism, sure, but there are many forms of tribalism that have quantifiable negative impact. Even for Midwest football: http://qje.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2011/03/21/qje.qjr001.full http://qje.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2011/03/21/qje.q...
  - twoquestions 10y ago
    I meant to be subtle about this, and you raise an excellent point. Tribalism is great for the in-group members and the in-group itself, but it can be horrifying to out-group members and greater society.
    - bduerst 10y ago
      The point was that suspending critical thinking to belong to a tribe has consequences when reality catches up, unless you're trying to imply that abused wives are not part of an out-group.
__jal 10y ago
Humans as a whole have a revealed preference for tribal cohesion over accepting reality. It was probably a beneficial trait when the Dunbar number roughly matched the number of people with in a day's communication.