3/ i'm realizing i frequently fail to do this. knowing the definition of "straw man" does not make one immune to the straw-manning tendency
in some ways knowing of various biases actually blinds us to our own errors because we falsely imagine that knowledge of bias = immunity
Conversation
4/ i will practice diligently and aim to keep improving
i wish to be able to see others' viewpoints in their full complexity, consider a wide range of possible intended meanings, and imagine vividly the possibility of the truth of their conclusions
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I find the LessWrong community obnoxious beyond belief, but there was that one time Eliezer Yudkowsky described teaching his mom about some bias and claimed her response was "Oh! I can use this in so many ways!" (to browbeat people in conversation)
Illustrative.
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Lately, it seems all the idiots are talking about others "suffering from" Dunning-Kruger effect, which is domain-specific and affects virtually everyone, not some virulent memetic plague.
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hahah
are you sure they're _all_ idiots though? 0_o : P
sidenote: is the dunning-kruger effect domain-specific? the wikipedia page makes it sound like a general thing and that's i think the only source i've ever really read on it
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It's domain-specific. You can't experience Dunning-Kruger if you are highly competent relative to the issue in question.
A plumber's opinion on a pipe leak is very unlikely to be fuelled by Dunning-Kruger, though if it's a pipe leak in a highly advanced installation... maybe.
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i can see that, though i can also see how it would apply to general intelligence
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Yeah, that's the Downing effect. Different-but-similar:
You a lot less intelligent than me? You overestimate your own IQ. By a lot.
You a bit less intelligent? You might recognize I'm smarter.
You about the same? You think I'm smarter.
You smarter? You realize you're smarter.
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There is some granularity there in terms of how it displays (are we both high IQ? are we both low IQ? is one high IQ and the other low IQ?), but the effect is pretty strong.
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Note that the effect displays both in general (e.g. your evaluation of statements like "I am smarter than average") and interpersonally (e.g. "I am smarter than Sindre").
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My completely speculative pet hypothesis is that relationships between people of similar intelligence have better longevity because they facilitate mutual admiration.