Viliam_Bur comments on Boring Advice Repository - Less Wrong

56 Post author: Qiaochu_Yuan 07 March 2013 04:33AM

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Comment author: Viliam_Bur 08 March 2013 04:06:32PM *  9 points [-]

Avoid weird people.

(Negation of #1 geek social fallacy.)

Of course this advice works only with some definitions of "weird", and I don't want to make it too long, but I feel it is very useful. The point is not to avoid anyone who is off-center in any Gauss curve, but to avoid specifically people who impose a huge cost on you and on people who associate with you, usually because of their serious lack of some social skill. Certainly, nobody is perfect, but don't commit the fallacy of grey.

Comment author: buybuydandavis 12 March 2013 01:22:36PM 6 points [-]

Everyone head for the exits.

This site is full of weirdos by prevailing societal conventions.

I'd say instead to advertise what kind of person you are, so that you attract and repel the right kind of people.

Comment author: fubarobfusco 11 March 2013 12:22:39AM *  11 points [-]

"Weird" is too general here.

The advice on "Five Geek Social Fallacies" has to do with dealing with people who are not weird but rather unpleasant. The examples used are of people who are obnoxious, offensive, smell bad due to poor hygiene, or hassle newcomers. These have to do with behaviors (or lack of care) that are not distinguished by their eccentricity but by causing harm and aversion to others.

So, for the boring advice:

Distinguish harmless eccentricity from harmful eccentricity. You may travel in weird social circles, wherein you recognize that being weird doesn't make someone bad ... but just because someone is weird does not mean that they are nice, either.

(Weird social circles may also choose to exclude some behavior that is harmful but not weird. For instance, there is nothing weird about making jokes that hinge on gender stereotypes (e.g. "women are bad drivers" or "men are buffoons"); these are quite common and ordinary, found in mainstream sitcoms, stand-up comedy, and so on. But a weird social circle that cares about being welcoming to gender-nonconformists may want to say that gender stereotyping is not acceptable.)

Comment author: TheOtherDave 08 March 2013 05:41:23PM 2 points [-]

I think I would only endorse this if it sorted under "Don't avoid otherwise-valuable people just because they are weird."

Comment author: Viliam_Bur 10 March 2013 12:52:46PM 0 points [-]

OK, second attempt:

Always remember that a company of weird people costs you your social capital. Make an estimate of costs and benefits. Multiply the costs by 10 to compensate for bias. Check again whether the benefits are real or imaginary, or could be obtained cheaper otherwise.

Note: The number 10 probably feels to big. For most weird people, the correct multiplier would be 2 or 3. But a few of them are black swans.

Comment author: TheOtherDave 10 March 2013 10:37:18PM 4 points [-]

I agree with "Don't neglect the costs of weirdness."

Comment author: [deleted] 11 March 2013 01:20:27PM 1 point [-]

Always remember that a company of weird people costs you your social capital.

Not if the people in my social circle are themselves weird.