AdeleneDawner comments on Least Signaling Activities? - Less Wrong

27 Post author: RobinHanson 22 May 2009 02:46AM

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Comment author: AdeleneDawner 23 May 2009 07:22:35PM 2 points [-]

If most of the groups and relationships you're in are with people who actually value honesty, yep, that'll work very well. Unfortunately, that's not most people's highest priority.

There's also the issue that when you're dealing with people that you can't entirely trust, dishonest signaling is intrinsic to staying safe. Autistics have a lot of trouble with that concept as a general rule - I found it counter-intuitive to have to do, and very hard to learn the skill - which is why we have such a reputation for being 'too trusting' and 'gullible'. I still have to consciously notice that I'm in an unsafe situation and specifically engage that skill, and I suspect that if you don't have to do that consciously, you're going to badly underestimate how often you do it.