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Yeah. But I'll point out that this assumes that person doesn't have responsibility to go with it. You should be surprised if your CEO didn't know what supply an

Yeah. But I'll point out that this assumes that person doesn't have responsibility to go with it. You should be surprised if your CEO didn't know what supply and demand are (unless you have a small company and no else one in your company does either, I guess). You should be surprised if your boss doesn't know who works under him. You should be surprised if your prof doesn't know what concepts he's supposed to be teaching. You should be surprised if your doctor prescribes antibiotics for a viral infection. The list goes on and on...

smacktoward 9y ago
These are all examples of surprise directed upwards, at people who are in more elevated positions in some social organization than you are. The principle is speaking about directing surprise downwards, at newbies and others who are less established in some social organization than you are. The power dynamics in the two cases are different, which is why the one case intuitively makes sense where the other does not.
- wfunction 9y ago
  I don't think "upwards" or "downwards" is meaningful here. If I were CEO I would be surprised if a manager at my company didn't even know who was working under him. If I were a math professor I would be surprised if the TA I just hired didn't know two quarters is the same as one half. If I were the president of the United States I would be surprised if my vice president thought he was president. etc. Why? Because all of these cases involve someone's lack of knowledge almost certainly resulting in someone else getting completely screwed over. It doesn't matter what the ranks of the people involved are, it just matters if there are serious potential damages at stake.
pazimzadeh 9y ago
Viruses can associate with glycoproteins on gut bacteria which can stabilize and and protect the virus, so while antibiotics don't directly act on the virus, taking antibiotics could in principle prevent viral infection. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3754087/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3754087/
- wfunction 9y ago
  Sigh, I knew someone was going to nitpick on the bio part. I was not trying to give a biology lesson here. I just said you should be surprised if you get an antibiotic prescribed for a viral infection. Yes, you really should be surprised. That doesn't mean you have to declare the doctor incompetent. It just means you should be surprised and act accordingly. Which means you have to confirm that it's correct, to make sure the doctor is not totally screwing up. Because chances are decent the antibiotics are useless. The chances don't need to be 100% for you to be surprised and to show it too.
oconnor663 9y ago
The principle isn't about when you should feel surprised. It's about when you should show it.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]

smacktoward 9y ago

These are all examples of surprise directed upwards, at people who are in more elevated positions in some social organization than you are. The principle is speaking about directing surprise downwards, at newbies and others who are less established in some social organization than you are. The power dynamics in the two cases are different, which is why the one case intuitively makes sense where the other does not.

wfunction 9y ago
I don't think "upwards" or "downwards" is meaningful here. If I were CEO I would be surprised if a manager at my company didn't even know who was working under him. If I were a math professor I would be surprised if the TA I just hired didn't know two quarters is the same as one half. If I were the president of the United States I would be surprised if my vice president thought he was president. etc. Why? Because all of these cases involve someone's lack of knowledge almost certainly resulting in someone else getting completely screwed over. It doesn't matter what the ranks of the people involved are, it just matters if there are serious potential damages at stake.

pazimzadeh 9y ago

Viruses can associate with glycoproteins on gut bacteria which can stabilize and and protect the virus, so while antibiotics don't directly act on the virus, taking antibiotics could in principle prevent viral infection. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3754087/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3754087/

wfunction 9y ago
Sigh, I knew someone was going to nitpick on the bio part. I was not trying to give a biology lesson here. I just said you should be surprised if you get an antibiotic prescribed for a viral infection. Yes, you really should be surprised. That doesn't mean you have to declare the doctor incompetent. It just means you should be surprised and act accordingly. Which means you have to confirm that it's correct, to make sure the doctor is not totally screwing up. Because chances are decent the antibiotics are useless. The chances don't need to be 100% for you to be surprised and to show it too.

oconnor663 9y ago

The principle isn't about when you should feel surprised. It's about when you should show it.

deleted 9y ago
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