Give them a motivation that is higher than the drive to game the test. I’m an immortalist. I don’t want to die. I could deceive myself and others in many ways about my skills, purposes, beliefs, but in the end I can’t do that at the expense of my chances of not dying. Finding a similarly important purpose, something that might even be gamed, but for which gaming means you loose. Some real life test.
Maybe, measuring someone’s capability to win. I have often wondered if being rational correlates with being succesful in society. I can’t be sure, though it seems to be it should, if it doesn’t then I suppose it either means there’s a problem with a rationality that would leave you worse off, or more likely, that you aren’t being rational enough, or do not have enough mental ressources to use that rationality to make a difference. Bounded rationality, always an issue.
Capability to win could be measured in many ways, economical success for instance, or any other existing societal position of power or prestige. Of course any single of those may be gamed, but it’s ok to cheat, if cheating brings you closer to what you want, then it is rational to game. However, the goal that you hold, and for which you are vying, may not be very interesting. Empty fame, etc.
It would be best to have a personal goal set, and known, and measure how a person fares as to that goal; a goal difficult enough to require the proper use rationality to win in society, that would require to apply rationality to a very large and diverse bunch of situations, a goal that you’d want to preserve.
Can’t help much to determine what that would be, I have my own thing to protect, as I said, not sure what it might be for other people. It doesn’t work all the time either. Sometimes short time goals are vying for dominance over my actions, and I’ll give in to them, even if it means getting farther from my own personal long term goal. That’s a lack of willpower, not a lack of rationality at work there I think.
Give them a motivation that is higher than the drive to game the test. I’m an immortalist. I don’t want to die. I could deceive myself and others in many ways about my skills, purposes, beliefs, but in the end I can’t do that at the expense of my chances of not dying. Finding a similarly important purpose, something that might even be gamed, but for which gaming means you loose. Some real life test.
Maybe, measuring someone’s capability to win. I have often wondered if being rational correlates with being succesful in society. I can’t be sure, though it seems to be it should, if it doesn’t then I suppose it either means there’s a problem with a rationality that would leave you worse off, or more likely, that you aren’t being rational enough, or do not have enough mental ressources to use that rationality to make a difference. Bounded rationality, always an issue.
Capability to win could be measured in many ways, economical success for instance, or any other existing societal position of power or prestige. Of course any single of those may be gamed, but it’s ok to cheat, if cheating brings you closer to what you want, then it is rational to game. However, the goal that you hold, and for which you are vying, may not be very interesting. Empty fame, etc.
It would be best to have a personal goal set, and known, and measure how a person fares as to that goal; a goal difficult enough to require the proper use rationality to win in society, that would require to apply rationality to a very large and diverse bunch of situations, a goal that you’d want to preserve.
Can’t help much to determine what that would be, I have my own thing to protect, as I said, not sure what it might be for other people. It doesn’t work all the time either. Sometimes short time goals are vying for dominance over my actions, and I’ll give in to them, even if it means getting farther from my own personal long term goal. That’s a lack of willpower, not a lack of rationality at work there I think.