Annoyance comments on Accuracy Versus Winning - Less Wrong

12 Post author: John_Maxwell_IV 02 April 2009 04:47AM

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Comment author: John_Maxwell_IV 02 April 2009 04:39:04PM *  2 points [-]

People who debate this often seem to argue for an all-or-nothing approach. I suspect the answer lies somewhere in the middle: be confident if you're a salesperson but not if you're a general, for instance. I might look like a member of the "always-be-confident" side to all you extreme epistemic rationalists, but I'm not.

Comment author: Annoyance 02 April 2009 06:22:06PM 1 point [-]

It depends on the cost of overconfidence. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. But if the expected cost of venturing wrongly is greater than the expected return, it's better to be careful what you attempt. If the potential loss is great enough, cautiousness is a virtue. If there's little investment to lose, cautiousness is a vice.

Comment author: John_Maxwell_IV 02 April 2009 06:34:07PM 0 points [-]

Right.