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>> Feelings are fine-tuned over millions of years to be good signals. If you're going for a hunt on large mammals, gut feelings about your peers is probably a
by maze-le 8y ago
>> Feelings are fine-tuned over millions of years to be good signals.
If you're going for a hunt on large mammals, gut feelings about your peers is probably a good way to judge a person. An interview for a job is (usually) an entirely different situation.
>> Things like the halo effect, for example trusting people because they are attractive, are well-rooted in empirical evidence.
Oh my god, please don't tell me you trust people because they are looking good. If you do, you should consider establishing a different trust-metric, one that maybe has to do with the job a person is actually requested to do.
- bena 8y agoYeah, that statement seemed odd to me as well. I've often heard of the halo effect as a description of something that happens unconsciously, not something we should actively strive towards.
- xamuel 8y agoI didn't read it as "we should trust people based on looks", but more as "we DO trust people based on looks" (I assume the "empirical evidence" refers to evidence of this being hardwired into us, not to evidence of it being useful).
- akvadrako 8y agoI meant that the existence of the effect means it was selected as beneficial. If we want to override this response we should use our higher-level reasoning to (1) understand why it works that way (2) show that we can do better. The burden of proof is on those proposing a new system. I doubt it’s as easy as many rationalists assume.
- xamuel 8y agodarkerside pointed out a great rational benefit of trusting emotional people [1]. What would be the benefit of trusting better-looking people? [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17668937 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17668937
- eivarv 8y ago... not necessarily. The existence of the effect really means that it wasn't selected against.
- akvadrako 8y agoSounds right; maybe it's a side-effect of something else.