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I wonder about cause and effect here. Would those attitudes persist in a world where everyone’s income is public information? Maybe people are weird about other

I wonder about cause and effect here. Would those attitudes persist in a world where everyone’s income is public information? Maybe people are weird about other people’s salaries because it’s so unusual to know what they are.

mmjaa 8y ago
If people had the right to choose whether they want to publish their income, this is one thing. Its a good thing to recognise those who choose this option. For the fact of attitudes persisting, it is a matter of values. Values across the language-/culture- barrier gap, are equated, causatively in realtime by the people of the cultures, according to a near-infinite set of whim. Religions are a form of this whim, as are governments, and many, many other institutions, incapable also of crossing the language-/culture- barrier gap, settle on the easy way out: "dollar-*" value. Alas, this is the nature of the materialist beast. I'm quite okay with people knowing each others salaries, if they are expected to work with each other. No really successful group survives its internal secrecy liabilities, at least not for long, imho .. +EDIT: cause/effect? I think it's both. Across a multitude of impinging factors.
matwood 8y ago
That's a good question, and it is probably some of getting used to something. It also means getting used to some answers people may not want to hear. When Timmy asks why Sue makes more money and their boss has to say that Sue is better than Timmy, that's going to be quite an ego blow. In theory this should make everyone better, but practice is different. I used professional sports earlier because I think that is a good example. There is very little hiding there, and people know who is better for the most part. Jiu Jitsu is a great example IMO because it's person vs. person. You can tell a lot about someones personality the first time to roll with someone. When they get beat (which they will - even by someone who is physically weaker), do they get mad or do they get excited to learn how it happened? The former never comes back because their ego will not allow it, and the later wants to learn how it was done.

mmjaa 8y ago

If people had the right to choose whether they want to publish their income, this is one thing. Its a good thing to recognise those who choose this option. For the fact of attitudes persisting, it is a matter of values. Values across the language-/culture- barrier gap, are equated, causatively in realtime by the people of the cultures, according to a near-infinite set of whim. Religions are a form of this whim, as are governments, and many, many other institutions, incapable also of crossing the language-/culture- barrier gap, settle on the easy way out: "dollar-*" value. Alas, this is the nature of the materialist beast. I'm quite okay with people knowing each others salaries, if they are expected to work with each other. No really successful group survives its internal secrecy liabilities, at least not for long, imho .. +EDIT: cause/effect? I think it's both. Across a multitude of impinging factors.

matwood 8y ago

That's a good question, and it is probably some of getting used to something. It also means getting used to some answers people may not want to hear. When Timmy asks why Sue makes more money and their boss has to say that Sue is better than Timmy, that's going to be quite an ego blow. In theory this should make everyone better, but practice is different. I used professional sports earlier because I think that is a good example. There is very little hiding there, and people know who is better for the most part. Jiu Jitsu is a great example IMO because it's person vs. person. You can tell a lot about someones personality the first time to roll with someone. When they get beat (which they will - even by someone who is physically weaker), do they get mad or do they get excited to learn how it happened? The former never comes back because their ego will not allow it, and the later wants to learn how it was done.