It’s a shame that our culture promotes casual conversation, but you’re generally not allowed to use it for much of the interesting stuff.
(Meets person with a small dog)
“Oh, you have a dog, that’s so interesting.
Before I get into specifics, can I ask for your age/gender/big 5/enneagram/IQ/education/health/personal wealth/family upbringing/nationality?
How much well-being does the dog give you? Can you divide that up to include the social, reputational, self-motivational benefits?
If it died tomorrow, and you mostly forgot about it, what percentage of your income would you spend to get another one?
Do you feel like the productivity benefits you get from the animal outweigh the time and monetary costs you spend on it? Can you make estimates of how much?
How do you think the animal has changed your utility function? Do any of these changes worry you?
How do you feel about the fact that dogs often stay at homes for very long periods of time, if they are away from the owners? Have you done any research on the costs and benefits of owenership to the animal?
What genetic changes would you suggest for substantial improved variations of your dog? How okay would you be with gene editing to make those changes?
Can you estimate the costs of your dog on the neighbors? How do you decide how to trade off the benefits to you vs the costs to them?
Can I infer from the size of your (small dog) that you either have a small apartment or wanted to have a flexible lifestyle? I just want to test my prediction abilities.”
In practice, I normally just stay away from conversations (I’ve spent all of today with very few words exchanged). I’m thinking though of just paying people online to answer such questions, but as an independent/hobby anthropology/sociology study.
It’s a shame that our culture promotes casual conversation, but you’re generally not allowed to use it for much of the interesting stuff.
(Meets person with a small dog) “Oh, you have a dog, that’s so interesting. Before I get into specifics, can I ask for your age/gender/big 5/enneagram/IQ/education/health/personal wealth/family upbringing/nationality? How much well-being does the dog give you? Can you divide that up to include the social, reputational, self-motivational benefits? If it died tomorrow, and you mostly forgot about it, what percentage of your income would you spend to get another one? Do you feel like the productivity benefits you get from the animal outweigh the time and monetary costs you spend on it? Can you make estimates of how much? How do you think the animal has changed your utility function? Do any of these changes worry you? How do you feel about the fact that dogs often stay at homes for very long periods of time, if they are away from the owners? Have you done any research on the costs and benefits of owenership to the animal? What genetic changes would you suggest for substantial improved variations of your dog? How okay would you be with gene editing to make those changes? Can you estimate the costs of your dog on the neighbors? How do you decide how to trade off the benefits to you vs the costs to them? Can I infer from the size of your (small dog) that you either have a small apartment or wanted to have a flexible lifestyle? I just want to test my prediction abilities.”
In practice, I normally just stay away from conversations (I’ve spent all of today with very few words exchanged). I’m thinking though of just paying people online to answer such questions, but as an independent/hobby anthropology/sociology study.