I am interested in this phenomenon as I have run afoul of it many times. I will describe what I have experienced in the role of the person doing the unwanted calculations. Let’s suppose that people have made what appears to me to be a “guess choice”, and I do the math and realize that another choice makes more sense optimizing for the thing they are representing themselves to be optimizing for. I point this out, and it is rejected. Here are some reasons I have perceived.
Laziness proper re: calculations.
Belief that the time spent doing the calculations is worth less than the value obtained by using the would-have-been information.
But most commonly (in my observation), and most importantly (to me)!
Fake belief that (see above). It is seen as uncool to choose things too carefully. I do not know the function f where uncoolness = f(would-be value). Risk tolerance corresponds to, or is seen to correspond to, many positive masculine attributes. Someone who would not bother to break down the price would typically be see as bolder, more fun, more focused on the goal (getting into and seeing the movie), etc.
I am interested in this phenomenon as I have run afoul of it many times. I will describe what I have experienced in the role of the person doing the unwanted calculations. Let’s suppose that people have made what appears to me to be a “guess choice”, and I do the math and realize that another choice makes more sense optimizing for the thing they are representing themselves to be optimizing for. I point this out, and it is rejected. Here are some reasons I have perceived.
Laziness proper re: calculations.
Belief that the time spent doing the calculations is worth less than the value obtained by using the would-have-been information.
But most commonly (in my observation), and most importantly (to me)!
Fake belief that (see above). It is seen as uncool to choose things too carefully. I do not know the function f where uncoolness = f(would-be value). Risk tolerance corresponds to, or is seen to correspond to, many positive masculine attributes. Someone who would not bother to break down the price would typically be see as bolder, more fun, more focused on the goal (getting into and seeing the movie), etc.