3 ms·

I wrote the piece, it seems to have been very well received. I've read your 5 paragraphs and I can't really understand what you're saying.

justin_vanw 13y ago
I'm saying that your advice is pointless, because nobody who could benefit from your advice chases a metric because they don't realize the things you say in the article. The things you say are obvious, and anyone who doesn't find them obvious is so profoundly stupid that there are thousands of basic skills they lack besides the one your advice corrects. They chase metrics because they are in a situation where moving those numbers does something. In the case of the startup you mention, they could use the user count graph to raise money, which is probably what they were trying to do. I go on to say that doing things like moving a metric for its own sake is really an example of deceptive signaling, which is pervasive in human affairs. On the way I point out the fact that deceptive signaling is often performed by a team of people, and many of the team members or employees actively work on such things despite having to grapple with moral reservations, and I talk about that for a bit, and point out they are not really innocent, but are acting primarily out of self interest. Next, I talk about how many or most of the major problems in the world are due to resources being wasted because someone calculates that they can benefit more by using those resources to engage in deceptive signaling than by helping people, and they have many accomplices that recognize what is happening but assist anyway. Finally, I point out that this is likely a dominant strategy, so there is almost no way to become powerful or remain in power except by engaging in such activities (using available resources in the way that maximizes power rather than any other consideration, such as preventing starvation), and I close by expressing my regret that this is so.

justin_vanw 13y ago

I'm saying that your advice is pointless, because nobody who could benefit from your advice chases a metric because they don't realize the things you say in the article. The things you say are obvious, and anyone who doesn't find them obvious is so profoundly stupid that there are thousands of basic skills they lack besides the one your advice corrects. They chase metrics because they are in a situation where moving those numbers does something. In the case of the startup you mention, they could use the user count graph to raise money, which is probably what they were trying to do. I go on to say that doing things like moving a metric for its own sake is really an example of deceptive signaling, which is pervasive in human affairs. On the way I point out the fact that deceptive signaling is often performed by a team of people, and many of the team members or employees actively work on such things despite having to grapple with moral reservations, and I talk about that for a bit, and point out they are not really innocent, but are acting primarily out of self interest. Next, I talk about how many or most of the major problems in the world are due to resources being wasted because someone calculates that they can benefit more by using those resources to engage in deceptive signaling than by helping people, and they have many accomplices that recognize what is happening but assist anyway. Finally, I point out that this is likely a dominant strategy, so there is almost no way to become powerful or remain in power except by engaging in such activities (using available resources in the way that maximizes power rather than any other consideration, such as preventing starvation), and I close by expressing my regret that this is so.