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wwa comments on You are the average of the five people you spend most time with. - Less Wrong
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Comments (12)
OK, I get it, this is supposed to be one of those self-help thoughts that are supposed to make you better off if you think them (suggestions for a name for such a thing, anyone?), regardless of whether they're actually true. Well... it doesn't work. My thoughts, roughly in order:
WARNING, manipulation / black arts
WARNING, causation != correlation
WARNING, opinion != fact
What about, say, good leaders? 5 people closest to one can't possibly be good leaders themselves because who'd they lead then?
WARNING, thesis likely literally false, seek metaphorical sense?
Silly and bogus example. You don't transfer attributes by osmosis. If anything, to become e.g. creative, you'd be better off by meeting people who are currently becoming creative not who are already creative.
Thanks, I had no idea why people were downvoting this, and you gave me a better idea. I fully agree with the osmosis problem you mention.
I wonder why Modus Ponies got 66 upvotes for saying that same thing.
—I started by giving the long, true version.
—When I gave the incorrect, pithy version, I labelled it as such.
—I gave a specific, non-hypothetical example.
Yes.
I don't think so. It seems about as black as using the pomodoro technique to manipulate your basic impulses.
Yes, but given the evidence, I'm pretty sure there's a causal relationship in this case.
Data point: I have recently improved my leadership skills by spending time with good leaders in a group that considers those traits high status. (Good leaders still made up a (substantial) minority of the group.)
Strong agreement. The thesis is explicitly labeled as literally false in the source.
I would be really, really, interested to see data on this. My intuition says you'd do best to spend time with a range of people: a little time with masters, a lot of time with people who are somewhat better than you but whose skills seem within reach, a lot of time with people at your level, and a little time with novices who you can teach.