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These are pretty contrived situations being used to draw sweeping conclusions about human nature. YCombinator partners get to interact with founders in a varie

These are pretty contrived situations being used to draw sweeping conclusions about human nature. YCombinator partners get to interact with founders in a variety of situations, over a long period of time. It's not like airport security trying to pick who's a terrorist or a jury evaluating a witness based on formal testimony. It's watching people as they behave and interact with each other, often when they don't know that they're being observed. Hundreds of different people a year, for close to a decade now. The YC partners are in a unique position to develop views that are far more nuanced than "this person is sloppy because he's not wearing a jacket". Every professional has subconscious biases, from doctors to engineers to investors. What makes them professionals is that their biases are usually correct, and they have sufficient experience to know when to question them. For whatever reason, we react negatively when someone evaluates their own abilities. But it doesn't make sense for everyone to refuse to self-evaluate, or to always speak poorly of their own abilities. When you get to a certain age and level of confidence you know what you're good at and what you aren't good at. People should be able to state the truth as they see it about their own weaknesses AND strengths. And we should be evaluating the validity of those statements, not that their choice to state them.

DanBC 12y ago
> What makes them professionals is that their biases are usually correct, and they have sufficient experience to know when to question them. This is so wrong. Doctors have biases - "this treatment works; I know it works because I see the effect it has on my patients". Doctors have access to evidence bases that tell them about the actual effectiveness of that treatment yet we still find real medical doctors using homeopathy (and not just as a placebo but because they think it works).

DanBC 12y ago

> What makes them professionals is that their biases are usually correct, and they have sufficient experience to know when to question them. This is so wrong. Doctors have biases - "this treatment works; I know it works because I see the effect it has on my patients". Doctors have access to evidence bases that tell them about the actual effectiveness of that treatment yet we still find real medical doctors using homeopathy (and not just as a placebo but because they think it works).