.Are people biased on average to follow someone else, rather than to make their own path? It is not obvious to me. Yes, many great failings have come from groups dedicatedly following a leader. But surely many other failings have come from groups not dedicatedly following a leader.
“Biased … to follow” ? Biased is a biased word! What if following someone else is a superior strategy in general than not following?
Even forming into groups randomly lininig up behind one random chosen leader, certainly in terms of survival is a great idea. Only the stupidest leader of 100 could fail to defeat “lone wolf” humans. A guy tried to build a toaster by himself, digging up the iron ore and smelting it, etc etc, and it took years and he couldn’t. The central lesson of humanities success over other species is quadrillions of neurons working together, a quadrillion neurons inefficiently coupled wins over a trillion neurons almost every time!
Beyond that, what are the chances that my strategies will be the best in a given group seeking some sort of success? Consider my employment as a senior staff engineer. I am not the CEO I am not a president a VP or even a Director. Would I do better on my own? In this group, following a complex and large group of “leaders,” I participate in a fraction of the success and it seems to me that fraction is in absolute terms gigantic.
I essentially KNOW that there are people that are simultaneously 1) Way better than me at almost anything I care to name and 2) simultaneouly really good (or good enough) at organizing other people. In my opinion, it would be irrational to seek to go off on my own, as long as they will have me.
Robin Hanson wrote:
“Biased … to follow” ? Biased is a biased word! What if following someone else is a superior strategy in general than not following?
Even forming into groups randomly lininig up behind one random chosen leader, certainly in terms of survival is a great idea. Only the stupidest leader of 100 could fail to defeat “lone wolf” humans. A guy tried to build a toaster by himself, digging up the iron ore and smelting it, etc etc, and it took years and he couldn’t. The central lesson of humanities success over other species is quadrillions of neurons working together, a quadrillion neurons inefficiently coupled wins over a trillion neurons almost every time!
Beyond that, what are the chances that my strategies will be the best in a given group seeking some sort of success? Consider my employment as a senior staff engineer. I am not the CEO I am not a president a VP or even a Director. Would I do better on my own? In this group, following a complex and large group of “leaders,” I participate in a fraction of the success and it seems to me that fraction is in absolute terms gigantic.
I essentially KNOW that there are people that are simultaneously 1) Way better than me at almost anything I care to name and 2) simultaneouly really good (or good enough) at organizing other people. In my opinion, it would be irrational to seek to go off on my own, as long as they will have me.