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Vladimir_M comments on Scholarship: how to tell good advice from bad advice? - Less Wrong Discussion

11 Post author: ChrisHallquist 29 June 2012 02:13AM

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Comment author: Vladimir_M 29 June 2012 04:10:41AM 4 points [-]

For starters, I'd say it would be best to take advice from people whose careers and accomplishments are to some extent a matter of public record. Then you can evaluate (a) whether they seem to have actually accomplished the things they're trying to teach you to accomplish, and (b) whether they seem to have accomplished those things via the procedure they're encouraging you to follow. If yes to both, then you might proceed further.

If you are privy to the information necessary to evaluate (b), you can just look at it directly and skip listening to the advice altogether.

Comment author: grouchymusicologist 29 June 2012 04:26:50AM 0 points [-]

Yeah, but it might be useful to know what the person in question considers to have been the crucial aspects of their procedure, as opposed to merely ancillary aspects. This won't be failproof but will at least have better than chance odds of contributing something useful to the advice.

Comment author: Vladimir_M 29 June 2012 04:57:45AM *  5 points [-]

This won't be failproof but will at least have better than chance odds of contributing something useful to the advice.

That depends on whether this person is motivated by a real desire to benefit you, or a desire to sound in a way that has maximum signaling value. (Note that the latter can be the case even when people honestly believe they're doing the former, unless they have a special and extraordinary degree of altruism towards you, which is typically the case only for close family and friends.)

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