James_Miller comments on Defecting by Accident - A Flaw Common to Analytical People - Less Wrong

86 Post author: lionhearted 01 December 2010 08:25AM

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Comment author: James_Miller 01 December 2010 03:35:15PM *  10 points [-]

Being smart seems to make you unpopular.

I've been told by my Korean college students that in Korean high schools the students with the highest grades are usually the most popular.

Koreans have an extremely strong aversion to correcting the errors of others to such an extent that a Korean airline crashed because the co-pilot who knew that his Captain had made an error which if uncorrected would cause the plane to crash didn't do more then suggest to the Captain that he had made an error. (Source: Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell).

Comment author: derefr 01 December 2010 09:05:57PM 2 points [-]

The errors of others, or the errors of those of superior social ranking? Do Korean teachers refrain from correcting students?

Comment author: James_Miller 01 December 2010 10:45:54PM 5 points [-]

No, students get hit with rulers for mistakes. I think it's that you don't correct your social superiors, and (but I'm not as sure) you don't correct those at your social level.

Comment author: Zvi 08 December 2010 01:30:24PM 1 point [-]

Does that cause them to attempt to create as many distinct social strata as possible?