(Picture me saying this in dramatic tones, standing on a podium wearing robes and frequently howling “Fools!”)
For a perfect Bayesian, it works. For humans, not so much. Just having a category exist makes us develop silly beliefs around it. If they’re categories of people, we start loving our category and hating others—the ingroup/outgroup dichotomy. We treat ourselves as default and other, er, others, increasing the status differential. If a power structure already exists on top on that, forget it. It’s really not innocent.
It seems to me that whether or not something is good social practice is distinct from whether or not it involves cognitive bias. BTW, I like the robe; it is everything I imagined it would be.
(Picture me saying this in dramatic tones, standing on a podium wearing robes and frequently howling “Fools!”)
For a perfect Bayesian, it works. For humans, not so much. Just having a category exist makes us develop silly beliefs around it. If they’re categories of people, we start loving our category and hating others—the ingroup/outgroup dichotomy. We treat ourselves as default and other, er, others, increasing the status differential. If a power structure already exists on top on that, forget it. It’s really not innocent.
It seems to me that whether or not something is good social practice is distinct from whether or not it involves cognitive bias. BTW, I like the robe; it is everything I imagined it would be.
Upvoted for the flavor text and the anvilicious necessity.