4 ms·

Oh hell yes. The concept that we do things based on our emotions will strike a certain type of individual as wrong, simply because they've become so used to lo

Oh hell yes. The concept that we do things based on our emotions will strike a certain type of individual as wrong, simply because they've become so used to looking at things like a machine. To that person I say: you are doing it right now. You are doing things based on your emotion, and it doesn't always feel... good, but it is how humans work. Humans are highly evolved organisms, and our emotions emerge from a vast collection of observations (both conscious and unconscious) made by our nervous system. Especially important is the unconscious aspects of emotion. We can often tell things are rotten before we can describe why. Trusting our gut is underrated.

goatcode 4y ago
Probably there are as many emotional reactions to some given aspect of software as there are people. How do you optimize for every individual?
- rco8786 4y ago
  You take cues from our friends in the marketing department. You don’t optimize for everyone. You niche down to the exact group of people you want to optimize for, find their commonalities, and optimize for those.
- gorjusborg 4y ago
  My 'angle' on this is about emotion of people working on the software project. If what you are building feels wrong, it probably is. Sure, some clever market-speak might be able to neutralize that emotion by showing a more flattering angle, but the initial reaction is usually the correct one; your conscious mind just hasn't caught up yet. If companies and individuals followed their intuition rather than being a slave to a paycheck, we'd likely not have the many of the dark patterns and creep-tech we have now. People ultimately choose to implement their own dystopia, a few individuals cannot do it all with their own hands. People should listen to their conscience and vote with their feet. However, it isn't solely the responsibility of the individuals involved to put the brakes on bad, unethical software. It is also up to governments to ensure that people feel safe to challenge their employer. It is also up to companies to foster a culture of doing right, then profiting, rather than profit at any cost. I'll go ahead and give the U.S. government and corporations an F grade on that right now.
- davidthewatson 4y ago
  Personas? https://www.nngroup.com/topic/personas/ https://www.nngroup.com/topic/personas/
blueflow 4y ago
Emotions are guidance, not binding. If you are not able to manage them on your own (an important aspect of adulthood), they will get into your way at some point in life. Yes, they are real, but acting on your emotions unconditionally is dangerous when you are in a position of responsibility or power.
- synu 4y ago
  I didn’t get a sense from the article or post you’re replying to that acting on emotion unconditionally was desirable.
- bsedlm 4y ago
  for that matter, unconditional anything is dangerous unconditional rationalism seem to lead to a meaningless life (i.e. the shitty kind of nihilism) unconditionally doing something because "rationality" demands it strikes me as mental gymnastics to let some symbolic-computable method dictate what we do... to follow this unconditionally is just as dumb as acting only on one's emotions we have (are able to do) both; so let's use both.
  - Dudeman112 4y ago
    >doing something because "rationality" demands it strikes me as mental It's best if we replace "rational" for "what I think makes sense" or "what I think is the best course of action", etc... Which is, of course, self-evidently what one should do. "Acting rational" is optimizing one's utility function to the best of their abilities and knowledge. It says nothing about the utility function itself, and using unconscious/emotional/instinctive thinking leads to better results for their appropriate places (including figuring out the utility function/what you care about) You don't do mathematics to catch a ball thrown at you.
- bumby 4y ago
  A good piece of advice I've heard is that our goal should be to tune our intuitions so they can be reliable. Gut feelings are sometimes wrong and thus shouldn't be binding, but if we can improve their accuracy they can be extremely, extremely helpful. Is there evidence that we can train our intuitions? I'm reminded of the expert art assessor in Malcolm Gladwell's "Blink" who immediately knew a sculpture was a forgery by gut instinct. (I know Gladwell's writing isn't often held in high regard, but it's a good illustration for my question). Surely, we aren't inborn with the ability to assess art validity, implying it's a trainable 'instinct'.
barrysteve 4y ago
The other side of it is mediocrity. Emotions point in a direction. They don't inform the user of what knowledge, time and meaning that may be needed along the way. Emotional reasoning often directs people to a mediocre end, most commonly seen in failed indie video games or niche tech projects constantly worked on with no end in sight. People end up in nurturing tribes trying to follow an irrational direction without the higher meaning needed to convert a direction into a result. Eventually time catches up to all of them and you don't hear about the nothing that comes of it. Your gut is like a wet finger in the wind, it indicates a direction of the prevailing winds. I think the article was talking more about feelings, sensation and desirability than emotions.
golergka 4y ago
Ignoring a person and self's irrational and emotional side is one of the most irrational quirks of so-called rationalists.

goatcode 4y ago

Probably there are as many emotional reactions to some given aspect of software as there are people. How do you optimize for every individual?

rco8786 4y ago
You take cues from our friends in the marketing department. You don’t optimize for everyone. You niche down to the exact group of people you want to optimize for, find their commonalities, and optimize for those.
gorjusborg 4y ago
My 'angle' on this is about emotion of people working on the software project. If what you are building feels wrong, it probably is. Sure, some clever market-speak might be able to neutralize that emotion by showing a more flattering angle, but the initial reaction is usually the correct one; your conscious mind just hasn't caught up yet. If companies and individuals followed their intuition rather than being a slave to a paycheck, we'd likely not have the many of the dark patterns and creep-tech we have now. People ultimately choose to implement their own dystopia, a few individuals cannot do it all with their own hands. People should listen to their conscience and vote with their feet. However, it isn't solely the responsibility of the individuals involved to put the brakes on bad, unethical software. It is also up to governments to ensure that people feel safe to challenge their employer. It is also up to companies to foster a culture of doing right, then profiting, rather than profit at any cost. I'll go ahead and give the U.S. government and corporations an F grade on that right now.
davidthewatson 4y ago
Personas? https://www.nngroup.com/topic/personas/ https://www.nngroup.com/topic/personas/

blueflow 4y ago

Emotions are guidance, not binding. If you are not able to manage them on your own (an important aspect of adulthood), they will get into your way at some point in life. Yes, they are real, but acting on your emotions unconditionally is dangerous when you are in a position of responsibility or power.

synu 4y ago
I didn’t get a sense from the article or post you’re replying to that acting on emotion unconditionally was desirable.
bsedlm 4y ago
for that matter, unconditional anything is dangerous unconditional rationalism seem to lead to a meaningless life (i.e. the shitty kind of nihilism) unconditionally doing something because "rationality" demands it strikes me as mental gymnastics to let some symbolic-computable method dictate what we do... to follow this unconditionally is just as dumb as acting only on one's emotions we have (are able to do) both; so let's use both.
- Dudeman112 4y ago
  >doing something because "rationality" demands it strikes me as mental It's best if we replace "rational" for "what I think makes sense" or "what I think is the best course of action", etc... Which is, of course, self-evidently what one should do. "Acting rational" is optimizing one's utility function to the best of their abilities and knowledge. It says nothing about the utility function itself, and using unconscious/emotional/instinctive thinking leads to better results for their appropriate places (including figuring out the utility function/what you care about) You don't do mathematics to catch a ball thrown at you.
bumby 4y ago
A good piece of advice I've heard is that our goal should be to tune our intuitions so they can be reliable. Gut feelings are sometimes wrong and thus shouldn't be binding, but if we can improve their accuracy they can be extremely, extremely helpful. Is there evidence that we can train our intuitions? I'm reminded of the expert art assessor in Malcolm Gladwell's "Blink" who immediately knew a sculpture was a forgery by gut instinct. (I know Gladwell's writing isn't often held in high regard, but it's a good illustration for my question). Surely, we aren't inborn with the ability to assess art validity, implying it's a trainable 'instinct'.

barrysteve 4y ago

The other side of it is mediocrity. Emotions point in a direction. They don't inform the user of what knowledge, time and meaning that may be needed along the way. Emotional reasoning often directs people to a mediocre end, most commonly seen in failed indie video games or niche tech projects constantly worked on with no end in sight. People end up in nurturing tribes trying to follow an irrational direction without the higher meaning needed to convert a direction into a result. Eventually time catches up to all of them and you don't hear about the nothing that comes of it. Your gut is like a wet finger in the wind, it indicates a direction of the prevailing winds. I think the article was talking more about feelings, sensation and desirability than emotions.

golergka 4y ago

Ignoring a person and self's irrational and emotional side is one of the most irrational quirks of so-called rationalists.