username2 comments on Open Thread May 16 - May 22, 2016 - Less Wrong

6 Post author: Elo 15 May 2016 11:35PM

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Comment author: username2 17 May 2016 06:24:01PM 3 points [-]

To each his own. Personally, I think that unless you live in a community where most people have tattoos, the most rational decision is to have no tattoos. I believe they close more doors than they open. Maybe I am mistaken, maybe situations were tattoos help you are more common than I think. Please correct me then.

Comment author: Viliam 18 May 2016 10:11:43AM *  6 points [-]

Tattoos that signal group membership are a costly signal of loyalty, and the cost is precisely closing those other doors. It's just, with the "rationality tattoos", I am not sure what exactly one gains in exchange for paying the cost.

I'd say that a truly rational tattoo is the one that can be easily removed. :D

I could imagine a specific situation where having a rationality tattoo could be the rational thing to do (for reasons other than impressing people who are easily impressed by tattoos), but those are quite unlikely situations. Having a rationality tattoo doesn't reliably signal rationality -- even a stupid person may decide to get one -- so what exactly would be the purpose? Signalling hostility towards groups that openly identify as anti-rationality? Not sure there are many such groups.

Comment author: Romashka 25 May 2016 05:18:33PM 0 points [-]

whispers Voldemort, Voldemort...

Comment author: Lumifer 25 May 2016 05:38:11PM 1 point [-]
Comment author: Anders_H 17 May 2016 09:07:59PM 2 points [-]

The Economist published a fascinating blog entry where they use evidential decision theory to establish that tattoo removal results in savings to the prison system. See http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2014/08/tattoos-jobs-and-recidivism . Temporally, this blog entry corresponds roughly to the time I lost my respect for the Economist. You can draw your own causal conclusions from this.