That's right. Rationalists claim it was rational to trust Sam Bankman-Fried, because if his pitch was part of an academic exam to see if this person was credible, trust would be the right answer.
But that's the thing: we are not in an academic exam, this is the real world, and people are going to try to exploit your blind spots.
I often wonder if these people play poker, video games, or any kind of board game were deception is part of the game.
I'm not sure this hypothesis is correct. IME propensity to be conned doesn't really have much to do with community values but does have a lot to do with education, time preference, and intelligence (though they're certainly not proof against it).
Nobody actually believes that the president didn't inhale or fuck Paula Jones do they?
Nobody believes it. The important thing there is that the president kowtowed to prevailing norms by disavowing his behavior, even if his excuses are obviously bullshit.
IME, propensity to be conned is correlated with exposure to cons, and has no relation to education, time preference, or intelligence. It's just about having the mental habit of double checking "Could this person be conning me?" and a willingness to accept when the indicators are yes.
I agree, but I think the word is skepticism. You don't need to be intelligent or educated to be skeptic. It's just a mental muscle: the more you doubt claims, the easier it becomes to doubt claims.
I don't follow. Not growing up around con men could result in the kind of naivete that would make you believe Bill Clinton did not inhale, but like you said, I don't think anyone actually believed that.
George Orwell was probably more on target with the concept of doublethink.
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Notes -
That's right. Rationalists claim it was rational to trust Sam Bankman-Fried, because if his pitch was part of an academic exam to see if this person was credible, trust would be the right answer.
But that's the thing: we are not in an academic exam, this is the real world, and people are going to try to exploit your blind spots.
I often wonder if these people play poker, video games, or any kind of board game were deception is part of the game.
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I'm not sure this hypothesis is correct. IME propensity to be conned doesn't really have much to do with community values but does have a lot to do with education, time preference, and intelligence (though they're certainly not proof against it).
Nobody believes it. The important thing there is that the president kowtowed to prevailing norms by disavowing his behavior, even if his excuses are obviously bullshit.
IME, propensity to be conned is correlated with exposure to cons, and has no relation to education, time preference, or intelligence. It's just about having the mental habit of double checking "Could this person be conning me?" and a willingness to accept when the indicators are yes.
I agree, but I think the word is skepticism. You don't need to be intelligent or educated to be skeptic. It's just a mental muscle: the more you doubt claims, the easier it becomes to doubt claims.
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I don't follow. Not growing up around con men could result in the kind of naivete that would make you believe Bill Clinton did not inhale, but like you said, I don't think anyone actually believed that.
George Orwell was probably more on target with the concept of doublethink.
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