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MrMind comments on Open Thread Feb 29 - March 6, 2016 - Less Wrong Discussion
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I've just read an interview to a Danish artist/enterpreneur who invented a low cost light bulb, trying to promote it to a poor African village.
The reaction he got when he explained the project was "Yeah, it's a cute idea, but this is a prosperous village, you should try to sell it to the poorer village down the road".
He then moved to the next village, which had the same level of average earning, but proposing his light-bulb as an appliance for rich people, this time receiving a lot more interest. The artist later remodeled the bulb, keeping it low-cost but giving it a fancier appearance to suit this image of a light for rich dwellings in poor villages.
It should come to no surprise to LWers that people are almost exclusively interested in things that raise their social status, even when understanding their situation would be the first thing to do to get out of it.
This raises an interesting question: if you were offering a service that tried to help people, how would you reframe it so that users would not feel devalued?
I had a discussion with a German LW'er who described how "productivity" and things generally targeted towards productivity are frowned upon because the in-group condition in the culture is that "you already got that shit covered". So telling someone to be more productive was like saying, "you are not productive enough right now". And doing so was discouraged. Makes it hard to say why LW is good if you have to avoid the word productivity (and similar words)
I think it would be more fitting to say that while productivity is more like a terminal value in the US with the American dream it's not a terminal value in Germany to the same extend.
That seems to me to be flawed reasoning. LW is not good at getting it's members to be productive given that a lot of them suffer from akrasia.
On the other hand LW is good at getting people to have sophisticated intellectual views on issues. That's more valued in Germany than it is in the US.
admitting to the fact; and then declaring you are trying things. is already uncomfortable. (in that culture)
It being uncomfortable is no proof for it being useful.
See also Valentine's post on Why Yin
Some people get insulted when you say their cognitive biases is something they should pay attention to and not just psychology trivia.
Is this hinting to a general bias of sufficient self-competence in every area?
Also, devaluing can be relative: this could be why close relative resists to you improving your life (you show them there's space for improvement) and distant acquaintances attributing it to unfair advantages.
I'd call it a cultural bias.
I've read a book that delves into these issues. It's called The Critical Villager by Eric Dudley. I recommend it.
Put a sticker on it that says "x% of the cost of this product goes to giving a free version to a person in need."
You start by talking to prospective customers to try to understand their values and then design your pitch based on what you learned.