I think this can be explained to kids, and I don’t think Alex is the average 10-year-old. “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” is basically a story about “don’t weaken your cheap signals by misusing them”, so a general case is clearly already explainable to kids. I’m pretty sure that Alex is smart enough to understand the concept if explained well, and that James Miller has the teaching skills to explain the concept. I’ve been using this as the reason why I don’t swear before turning 16. I am absolutely atypical for a teenager, but Alex has been described as being more similar to the average LW reader than to the average member of the general population, so this may be applicable.
If the kid is smart enough to understand that, he can also reason as follows: I can tell that you really don’t want me to swear anyway, regardless of that. And if I’m trading off frequency for impact, it’s awfully hard for you to know the exact amount of swearing that optimizes impact. Both of these factors make it especially likely that what you’re telling me is motivated reasoning, so I should ignore you.
Again, a kid wouldn’t phrase it that way, but he might say something like “that isn’t really why you want me to stop!” and basically mean that.
He may even be right. Unless you actually want the kid to swear to a degree that maximizes impact, rather than less than that.
I think this can be explained to kids, and I don’t think Alex is the average 10-year-old. “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” is basically a story about “don’t weaken your cheap signals by misusing them”, so a general case is clearly already explainable to kids. I’m pretty sure that Alex is smart enough to understand the concept if explained well, and that James Miller has the teaching skills to explain the concept. I’ve been using this as the reason why I don’t swear before turning 16. I am absolutely atypical for a teenager, but Alex has been described as being more similar to the average LW reader than to the average member of the general population, so this may be applicable.
If the kid is smart enough to understand that, he can also reason as follows: I can tell that you really don’t want me to swear anyway, regardless of that. And if I’m trading off frequency for impact, it’s awfully hard for you to know the exact amount of swearing that optimizes impact. Both of these factors make it especially likely that what you’re telling me is motivated reasoning, so I should ignore you.
Again, a kid wouldn’t phrase it that way, but he might say something like “that isn’t really why you want me to stop!” and basically mean that.
He may even be right. Unless you actually want the kid to swear to a degree that maximizes impact, rather than less than that.