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knb comments on Malice, Stupidity, or Egalité Irréfléchie? - Less Wrong
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I really doubt this explanation. It seems like people want to discourage their friends from acting weird because there are serious social costs for people who act weird, and for people closely associated with weird people.
Maybe, but the same kinds of reactions happen even when trying to, say, quit eating donuts.
Heck, there's stories of people from particularly poor backgrounds getting insulted for trying to get a college education. "Don't act weird" might explain radical behavioral shifts, but doesn't explain everything.
I think this is still "explained" by "don't act weird" to the extent that any of these theories explain anything.
knb's explanation also covers this one. Also, the only time I recall something like this happening is when my high school friends disapproved of vegetarianism among males because it is unmanly. "The egalitarian instinct" is not a good explanation for that behavior.
It doesn't seem to me that these are really exclusive hypotheses. If standing out incurs serious social costs, it would imply a general opposition to deviating from the norm.
I have to doubt any explanation that hinges upon preserving the status of members of one's social group though; I occasionally find myself pressured to conform by people who aren't friends or even associates, who I am likely never to meet again.