It raises the problem of defining the system on which to acquire levels and the potential for perverse incentives when developing such a system, which can accumulate over time, following Goodhart’s law.
I don’t think we’ll have a problem with system-gaming as long as nobody “wins” anything real. It’s all about self-improvement. If somebody wants to lie and say they self-improved, that’s their own (screwed up) business… it makes no difference to me, or anybody else. People will still be supportive of each other’s efforts, even that of the liar.
It seems pretty unavoidable to me that people will ‘win’ status this way. On the other hand, if ‘level 4 programmer’ means something specific, and someone claims to be one, that claim should be falsifiable, and they should lose a significant chunk of status if it’s falsified—more than they’d gain from the lie in the first place, in fact. So it’s still unlikely to be a problem.
It raises the problem of defining the system on which to acquire levels and the potential for perverse incentives when developing such a system, which can accumulate over time, following Goodhart’s law.
I don’t think we’ll have a problem with system-gaming as long as nobody “wins” anything real. It’s all about self-improvement. If somebody wants to lie and say they self-improved, that’s their own (screwed up) business… it makes no difference to me, or anybody else. People will still be supportive of each other’s efforts, even that of the liar.
It seems pretty unavoidable to me that people will ‘win’ status this way. On the other hand, if ‘level 4 programmer’ means something specific, and someone claims to be one, that claim should be falsifiable, and they should lose a significant chunk of status if it’s falsified—more than they’d gain from the lie in the first place, in fact. So it’s still unlikely to be a problem.
Experience suggests that people will in fact game systems to win fake rewards.
Yes of course they will.
My point being that it won’t make any difference to the rest of us even if they do.
That’s probably mostly right. It does mean that public leaderboards are unlikely to help, though.
Not doing this project doesn’t degamify our society, so we don’t on the margins have a play-it-safe option.