3 ms·

It doesn't get a ton of attention in the article, but I think this starts to explain a little of it: "Finally, it may be possible that a third variable affects

by parsimo2010 6y ago

It doesn't get a ton of attention in the article, but I think this starts to explain a little of it: "Finally, it may be possible that a third variable affects the relationship of attractiveness and criminal accusations/activities. Socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and developmental advantages (e.g., nutrition, schooling) might be such factors.[29]" Your physical attractiveness and the way you dress can both signal information about you. Rich & powerful men with status tend to marry attractive women, even if the men are not always attractive themselves. After a couple generations, rich & powerful families with status tend to have more attractive families. They can also afford better nutrition and educational opportunities. Dressing nice and fashionably indicates that you care about your appearance. While a few people can pull off the idea of someone being such a genius that they can't be bothered to care about their appearance, the general trend is that people that can't be bothered to care about their appearance also can't be bothered to care as much about other things, like preparing for work. It would be nice if we could get rid of any attractiveness biases. I sure would be angry if I was disadvantaged in a court case because I'm not attractive. I would be extra angry if I was disadvantaged because my lawyer wasn't attractive. I have a feeling that just blindfolding the jurors or blocking their view would cause them to miss out on other important things like being able to see faces and reactions during testimony. At least if we know about the bias we can work to fight it in other ways. Getting people to "think slow" sounds like some Malcom Gladwell popular B.S. that has probably been debunked, but it's probably better than nothing, and any lawyer can probably work at getting juries to think a little harder.

airstrike 6y ago
Very rarely does one find someone else commenting in a way that so perfectly mirrors one's thoughts. This is one of those instances, so thank you for posting that most eloquent insight.
jackbravo 6y ago
"Liking what you see: A documentary" is a short story by Ted Chiang published along side Story of your life (Arrival) that talks just about this topic. Sci-fi story about what could happen if we had the technology to remove beauty bias entirely. Well worth a read: https://afuzzyrants.wordpress.com/2017/03/08/liking-what-you-see-a-documentary-by-ted-chiang/ https://afuzzyrants.wordpress.com/2017/03/08/liking-what-you...
bsanr2 6y ago
>After a couple generations, rich & powerful families with status tend to have more attractive families. IIRC this is a common misconception. The son of a traditionally handsome man isn't necessarily going to get all of the traditionally handsome male features from his dad; he might get some of his traditionally beautiful mother's traditionally beautiful female features. Genetics is a crapshoot like that.
- sokoloff 6y ago
  Nutrition and personal care go a long way as well. I'm (self-assessed) of around average appearance and my wife is, according to most sighted people, better looking than I am. Our kids are better looking than either of us (at least so far), in part from genetics, but substantially from having a healthy diet, healthy lifestyle, excellent medical, skin, and dental care, etc. (And we're just upper-middle class vs middle-middle class where we were raised.) Even if genetics are a crapshoot, I'd expect offspring of rich and powerful families to be, on average, more attractive than the median for their area from these environmental factors.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
gruez 6y ago
> After a couple generations, rich & powerful families with status tend to have more attractive families. ...unless they inbreed (which a lot of european royalty did), in which case it works in reverse. Also, income mobility probably prevents this from having significant effects. According to [1] if your father is in the top pentile, you only have a 36% chance of remaining in the top pentile. Repeat this over 5 generations, and you only have a 0.6% chance of staying in the top pentile. [1] https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/02_economic_mobility_sawhill_ch3.pdf https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/02_econ... page 4, table 1
- nitrogen 6y ago
  Is each generation independent though? In other words, if the past three generations were in the top N-ile, do you have a better chance to also be in that bracket?
gbrown 6y ago
> I have a feeling that just blindfolding the jurors or blocking their view would cause them to miss out on other important things like being able to see faces and reactions during testimony Honestly, that might be an advantage too. Humans think they’re good at these things, but this sort of judgement gives plenty of opportunity for more bias to creep in.

airstrike 6y ago

Very rarely does one find someone else commenting in a way that so perfectly mirrors one's thoughts. This is one of those instances, so thank you for posting that most eloquent insight.

jackbravo 6y ago

"Liking what you see: A documentary" is a short story by Ted Chiang published along side Story of your life (Arrival) that talks just about this topic. Sci-fi story about what could happen if we had the technology to remove beauty bias entirely. Well worth a read: https://afuzzyrants.wordpress.com/2017/03/08/liking-what-you-see-a-documentary-by-ted-chiang/ https://afuzzyrants.wordpress.com/2017/03/08/liking-what-you...

bsanr2 6y ago

>After a couple generations, rich & powerful families with status tend to have more attractive families. IIRC this is a common misconception. The son of a traditionally handsome man isn't necessarily going to get all of the traditionally handsome male features from his dad; he might get some of his traditionally beautiful mother's traditionally beautiful female features. Genetics is a crapshoot like that.

sokoloff 6y ago
Nutrition and personal care go a long way as well. I'm (self-assessed) of around average appearance and my wife is, according to most sighted people, better looking than I am. Our kids are better looking than either of us (at least so far), in part from genetics, but substantially from having a healthy diet, healthy lifestyle, excellent medical, skin, and dental care, etc. (And we're just upper-middle class vs middle-middle class where we were raised.) Even if genetics are a crapshoot, I'd expect offspring of rich and powerful families to be, on average, more attractive than the median for their area from these environmental factors.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

gruez 6y ago

> After a couple generations, rich & powerful families with status tend to have more attractive families. ...unless they inbreed (which a lot of european royalty did), in which case it works in reverse. Also, income mobility probably prevents this from having significant effects. According to [1] if your father is in the top pentile, you only have a 36% chance of remaining in the top pentile. Repeat this over 5 generations, and you only have a 0.6% chance of staying in the top pentile. [1] https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/02_economic_mobility_sawhill_ch3.pdf https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/02_econ... page 4, table 1

nitrogen 6y ago
Is each generation independent though? In other words, if the past three generations were in the top N-ile, do you have a better chance to also be in that bracket?

gbrown 6y ago

> I have a feeling that just blindfolding the jurors or blocking their view would cause them to miss out on other important things like being able to see faces and reactions during testimony Honestly, that might be an advantage too. Humans think they’re good at these things, but this sort of judgement gives plenty of opportunity for more bias to creep in.