I only just discovered this article, and found it extremely useful.
My issue with it, however, is that the author argues that external social influence is the primary source of crony-beliefs. ”...social incentives are the root of all our biggest thinking errors.”
I think this glosses over an entire class of beliefs that would fall neatly into the crony definition, which need not have anything to do with the opinions of others: self-deception, denial, etc. Surely we maintain a large number of views that are less meritocratic, less good at modeling the world, simply because they make us comfortable, or allow us to ignore aspects of the world that would otherwise hold us back.
Said another way, I believe our minds are capable of cronyism even in a completely non-social world, to filter unpleasant likelihoods. Examples might include: to keep stress at bay during risky activities (crony belief: ‘it’s not that risky’), to stay motivated in the face of repeated failure (crony belief: ‘if i try harder next time i’ll definitely succeed’), etc.
As such, this is extremely hard for me to agree with: “Suppose we weren’t Homo sapiens but Solo sapiens, a hypothetical species as intelligent as we are today, but with no social life whatsoever… In that case, it’s my claim that our minds would be clean, efficient information-processing machines — straightforward meritocracies trying their best to make sense of the world.”
I only just discovered this article, and found it extremely useful.
My issue with it, however, is that the author argues that external social influence is the primary source of crony-beliefs. ”...social incentives are the root of all our biggest thinking errors.”
I think this glosses over an entire class of beliefs that would fall neatly into the crony definition, which need not have anything to do with the opinions of others: self-deception, denial, etc. Surely we maintain a large number of views that are less meritocratic, less good at modeling the world, simply because they make us comfortable, or allow us to ignore aspects of the world that would otherwise hold us back.
Said another way, I believe our minds are capable of cronyism even in a completely non-social world, to filter unpleasant likelihoods. Examples might include: to keep stress at bay during risky activities (crony belief: ‘it’s not that risky’), to stay motivated in the face of repeated failure (crony belief: ‘if i try harder next time i’ll definitely succeed’), etc.
As such, this is extremely hard for me to agree with: “Suppose we weren’t Homo sapiens but Solo sapiens, a hypothetical species as intelligent as we are today, but with no social life whatsoever… In that case, it’s my claim that our minds would be clean, efficient information-processing machines — straightforward meritocracies trying their best to make sense of the world.”