Blueberry comments on Some Thoughts Are Too Dangerous For Brains to Think - Less Wrong

15 Post author: WrongBot 13 July 2010 04:44AM

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Comment author: whpearson 14 July 2010 10:05:26AM *  3 points [-]

I think there are divisions within the community, but I am not sure about the correlations. Or at least they don't fit me.

I'm pro discussion of status, I liked red paper clip theory for an example. I'm anti acquiring high status for myself and anti people telling me I should be pro that. I'm anti-pua advice, pro the occasional well backed up psychological research with PUA style flavour (finding out what women really find attractive, why the common advice is wrong etc).

I'm pretty much pro-truth, I don't think words can influence me that much (if they could I would be far more mainstream). I'm less sure about situations, if I was more status/money maximising for a while to earn money to donate to FHI etc, then I would worry that I would get sucked into the high status decadent consumer lifestyle and forget about my long term concerns.

Edit: Actually, I've just thought of a possible reason for the division you note.

If you are dominant or want to become dominant you do not want to be swayed by the words of others. So ideas are less likely to be dangerous to you or your values. If you are less-dominant you may be more susceptible to the ideas that are floating around in society as, evolutionarily, you would want to be part of whatever movement is forming so you are part of the ingroup.

I think my social coprocessor is probably broken in some weird way, so I may be an outlier.

Comment author: Blueberry 14 July 2010 04:14:40PM 3 points [-]

I'm anti-pua advice, pro the occasional well backed up psychological research with PUA style flavour (finding out what women really find attractive, why the common advice is wrong etc).

I think this is just another way of saying "I'm pro- good advice about dating and anti- bad advice about dating." I would consider the research you're discussing a form of PUA/dating advice.

Comment author: whpearson 14 July 2010 05:54:01PM *  7 points [-]

Are newtons laws billiard ball prediction advice?

In other words, there are other uses than trying to pick up girls for knowing what, on average, women like in a man. These include, but are not limited to,

  • Judging the likely ability of politicians to influence women
  • Being able to match make between friends
  • Writing realistic plots in fiction
  • Not being suprised when your friends are attracted to certain people
Comment author: Larks 15 July 2010 12:38:49AM 9 points [-]

If you're an altruist (on the 'idealist' side of WrongBot's distinction), you'd probably consider making women you know happier to be the biggest advantage.

Comment author: whpearson 15 July 2010 09:54:04AM *  4 points [-]

Most of the women I'm friends with are in relationships with men that aren't me :) So me being maximally attractive to them may not make them happier. I would need more research on how to have the correct amount of attractiveness in platonic relationships.

Sure women like the attention of a very attractive man, but it could lead to jealousy (why is attractive man speaking to X and not me), unrequited lust and .strife in their existing relationships.

Perhaps a research on what women find creepy, and not doing that, would be more useful for making women happier in general.

Edit: There is also the problem that if you become more attractive you might make your male friends less happy as they get less attention. Raising the general attractiveness of your male social group is another possibility, but one that would require quite an oddly rational group.