jsalvatier comments on A Rational Approach to Fashion - Less Wrong

19 Post author: lionhearted 10 October 2011 06:53PM

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Comment author: jsalvatier 11 October 2011 04:47:07PM *  12 points [-]

I'm certainly not an expert, but since minicamp I've been paying more attention and attempting to optimize my dress and social habits. Here are some observations I've made or have been made to me (and seem correct):

  • Your clothing and body language broadcasts a packet of information to a everyone around you. It has higher bandwidth than speech. It reaches more people than your speech does.
  • It's all about signalling. I don't know what all the relevant signalling dimensions are but I suspect that conscientiousness and social skills big ones. For example, wearing clothes that fit closely to your body without being tight (this is my working model for what people mean by 'fit') clearly suggests you pay close attention to things.
  • You are only signalling something if others actually infer it about you. Your intent with your signals about what you is not relevant.
  • Even people you are familiar with may be more positive towards you if you optimize your fashion and body language because people like to associate with people who strangers feel positive towards.
Comment author: Armok_GoB 28 October 2011 04:41:40PM 3 points [-]

What is the format of the information packet? Is it a point in some simple universal configuration space, or does it have syntax? Can one translate back and forth between fashion and English like a language? What kind of information can be communicated more generally?

If "this sentence is false" is an english equivalent of Gödels incompleteness Theorem, is there an equivalent of it in fashion?

Comment author: pedanterrific 28 October 2011 05:48:37PM 6 points [-]

If "this sentence is false" is an english equivalent of Gödels incompleteness Theorem, is there an equivalent of it in fashion?

Hipster fashion. (It's popular to dislike things that are popular.)

Comment author: Armok_GoB 28 October 2011 06:08:59PM 1 point [-]

Tangentially relevant factoid like thing:

The only way to be intentionally be reliably original is to come up with a way to enumerate significantly more unique styles than there are people who want to be original (10 billion should do), then taking one random sample from that set and sticking to it.

Comment author: Bugmaster 28 October 2011 06:27:37PM 2 points [-]

There are some pretty serious constraints that limit fashion: physical, such as the tensile strength of the fabrics, available colors, etc.; social, such as our nudity taboos; as well as functional, such as ease of use and mobility (f.ex., you're not going to wear a wedding gown every day, since they are too unwieldy).

Given these constraints, is it really possible to come up with 10 billion non-trivial styles ?

Comment author: Armok_GoB 28 October 2011 07:38:08PM 2 points [-]

I have no idea, but it's exactly the right question to ask.

Comment author: dlthomas 28 October 2011 08:08:48PM 0 points [-]

This is unlikely to produce something that looks good on you.

Comment author: Armok_GoB 29 October 2011 01:18:23PM 0 points [-]

That depends on the enumeration algorithm! :p

Comment author: dlthomas 29 October 2011 04:00:37PM 0 points [-]

Granted, but then we have cut the space available quite significantly.

Comment author: Armok_GoB 29 October 2011 09:13:08PM 0 points [-]

Yes. And more importantly in a way with very high complexity.

Comment author: Prismattic 28 October 2011 11:02:49PM 0 points [-]

I've been looking for a way to work this into the conversation, and finally I have found an appropriate spot. Thanks!

Comment author: pedanterrific 29 October 2011 01:30:48AM 1 point [-]

Must... resist...!

Comment author: shminux 28 October 2011 06:00:10PM 0 points [-]

A large chunk of the Yogi Berra quotes are of this variety.

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