If you can convince people to check a bookie’s odds instead of asserting “WOO! Go team go! You’re #1!” then I think you have succeeded in raising the sanity waterline...
Clearly cheering on a sports team and checking a bookie’s odds fulfill two different functions. One is about signaling, whereas the other is about improving your knowledge.
Trying to convince someone to forsake one in favor of the other makes about as much sense as telling them to buy a Prius instead of learning to juggle.
Agreed. Teaching someone to differentiate those two would still probably qualify as raising the sanity waterline, though. People do make wagers and answer research questions based off the “social signalling” behavior, and I doubt that this is usually desired or worthwhile behavior (i.e. I doubt many people make bad $100 bets because they want to signal loyalty. I think they make them because they are genuinely confused)
If you can convince people to check a bookie’s odds instead of asserting “WOO! Go team go! You’re #1!” then I think you have succeeded in raising the sanity waterline...
Clearly cheering on a sports team and checking a bookie’s odds fulfill two different functions. One is about signaling, whereas the other is about improving your knowledge.
Trying to convince someone to forsake one in favor of the other makes about as much sense as telling them to buy a Prius instead of learning to juggle.
Agreed. Teaching someone to differentiate those two would still probably qualify as raising the sanity waterline, though. People do make wagers and answer research questions based off the “social signalling” behavior, and I doubt that this is usually desired or worthwhile behavior (i.e. I doubt many people make bad $100 bets because they want to signal loyalty. I think they make them because they are genuinely confused)
You’re right, unfortunately.