Does “point-scoring” correspond to status-seeking behavior?
Presumably people agree that in some circumstances, status seeking can be rational. If the actual disagreement is about who should have higher status, is whataboutism actually a fallacy?
(More generally, I would have liked to see more speculation about why point-scoring behavior evolved/what people who engage in it are trying to accomplish.)
In the specific way that I use the phrase in my head, it corresponds to status-seeking behavior that is orthogonal to the actual goal. Status-seeking behavior evolved in general because it’s broadly useful, like money-seeking behavior. But just as there are circumstances where you shouldn’t be concerned with collecting money, so too are there circumstances where you shouldn’t be concerned with collecting status, and our ingrained systems don’t always notice the relevant circumstantial detail.
Sure, but the fact that my System 1 is pushing me towards status seeking is evidence that now is a good time to do it.
In Ben’s case, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if the only plausible strategy to get your aunt to loosen her grip is indeed for him to convince you and his dad to form a coalition with him and try to persuade his mom to loosen up.
Nope nope nope, beware perverse incentives and motivated cognition. Part of what I did was give Ben a handful of frames and trigger-action patterns and clever tricks that allowed him to completely route around this whole class of problem and in fact win her approval on other questions in the same space, once he ditched the point-scoring behavior.
In general, I suspect that point-scoring behavior is the right answer less than 5% of the time (though I admit I pulled that number out of an anonymous butt).
Does “point-scoring” correspond to status-seeking behavior?
Presumably people agree that in some circumstances, status seeking can be rational. If the actual disagreement is about who should have higher status, is whataboutism actually a fallacy?
(More generally, I would have liked to see more speculation about why point-scoring behavior evolved/what people who engage in it are trying to accomplish.)
In the specific way that I use the phrase in my head, it corresponds to status-seeking behavior that is orthogonal to the actual goal. Status-seeking behavior evolved in general because it’s broadly useful, like money-seeking behavior. But just as there are circumstances where you shouldn’t be concerned with collecting money, so too are there circumstances where you shouldn’t be concerned with collecting status, and our ingrained systems don’t always notice the relevant circumstantial detail.
Sure, but the fact that my System 1 is pushing me towards status seeking is evidence that now is a good time to do it.
In Ben’s case, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if the only plausible strategy to get your aunt to loosen her grip is indeed for him to convince you and his dad to form a coalition with him and try to persuade his mom to loosen up.
Nope nope nope, beware perverse incentives and motivated cognition. Part of what I did was give Ben a handful of frames and trigger-action patterns and clever tricks that allowed him to completely route around this whole class of problem and in fact win her approval on other questions in the same space, once he ditched the point-scoring behavior.
In general, I suspect that point-scoring behavior is the right answer less than 5% of the time (though I admit I pulled that number out of an anonymous butt).