Hayashi comments on Generalizing From One Example - Less Wrong

259 Post author: Yvain 28 April 2009 10:00PM

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Comment author: taw 30 April 2009 07:47:32AM 3 points [-]

It's funny that you asked an inside view question. It was a Polish high school of the supposedly very good kind.

From the outside view, why wouldn't they? Students care about grades, risk of getting caught is tiny, and respect for school among them is really really low.

The only student who wouldn't cheat would be one that: doesn't care about grades/passing at all (but student like that would just fail the school), or is naturally great at everything (but many subjects require plenty of rote memorization, won't work), has unusually high level of respect for the school system (I don't find it terribly likely), or has unusually high level of fear of getting caught.

OK, perhaps more than 5% then, I can see many kids being unreasonably afraid of getting caught.

Comment author: Hayashi 27 March 2012 12:00:06AM 0 points [-]

I agree that 1/3 is too low a number that has never cheated. I'd say that of the people I study with, and we are at a remarkably high level of education in a profession with a fiduciary role, about 90+% of them cheat.

I'm one of those who don't cheat, for the reason you gave that I don't care about grades. However, I study in order to improve myself to be better at fulfilling my chosen role in society and for the knowledge's sake. Cheating in no way improves understanding or knowledge, and is thusly completely useless to me. However, I not only do not fail school, but conversely am one of the top scorers in the school (and by extension because of the school's position, one of the top students in the nation), because I achieve higher levels of understanding than almost everyone else, who use rote learning instead, as it is effective enough for examinations' purposes.

I take opposition to your assertion that one must care about grades to get good grades.