There’s no denying that prestige is better indicator of quality than random chance—the question is—is it the best we can do?
Where does the prestige come from? Likely, it’s got a lot to do with public perception of quality in the first place. If we can improve objectivity in the judgment of this quality, then that’s great; but the prestige would follow it along. We won’t ‘do better’ than following the prestige, the prestige will ‘do better’ at following the quality.
The usual assumption is that public perception of quality is systematically biased and that individuals willing to do better shouldn’t automatically agree with it. It’s not a given that good indicators of quality known to experts are widely accepted. This post presents a hypothesis that public perception may be a pretty good indicator, incorporating other indicators as they become known.
Where does the prestige come from? Likely, it’s got a lot to do with public perception of quality in the first place. If we can improve objectivity in the judgment of this quality, then that’s great; but the prestige would follow it along. We won’t ‘do better’ than following the prestige, the prestige will ‘do better’ at following the quality.
The usual assumption is that public perception of quality is systematically biased and that individuals willing to do better shouldn’t automatically agree with it. It’s not a given that good indicators of quality known to experts are widely accepted. This post presents a hypothesis that public perception may be a pretty good indicator, incorporating other indicators as they become known.
I thought the post’s idea was that perception (by the “right” public) is status, and that’s all there is to it—it’s not a proxy but the real thing.