https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/prestige-is-politicalhtml
Prestige is Political - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
Imagine an ancient forager band had a conflict.
robin hansonovercoming biasprestigepolitical
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/bike-helmets-failhtml
Bike Helmet Laws Fail - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
Two years ago I posted on evidence that called into question the effectiveness of bike helmet laws.
helmet lawsrobin hansonovercoming biasbikefail
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/hypergamy-hypothesishtml
Hypergamy Hypothesis - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
My last post said teen males want more sex than teen females.
robin hansonovercoming biashypergamyhypothesis
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/history-of-social-darwinism
History of Social Darwinism - by Robin Hanson
As prep for coming posts, let me fill you in on some history.
social darwinismrobin hansonhistory
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/should-you-kiss-asshtml/comments
Comments - Should You Kiss Ass? - by Robin Hanson
Consider two possible work strategies.
robin hansoncommentskissass
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/how-good-are-laughshtml/comments
Comments - How Good Are Laughs? - by Robin Hanson
We often underestimate our different were our ancestors from us; we like to assume that even if they wore different costumes on the outside, they felt like us...
robin hansoncommentsgoodlaughs
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/alexander-on-age-of-emhtml
Alexander on Age of Em - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
If I ever have an executioner, I want him to be Scott Alexander.
robin hansonovercoming biasalexanderageem
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/beware-competent-world-govt
Beware Competent World Govt - by Robin Hanson
robin hansonbewarecompetentworldgovt
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/gullible-then-shtml
Gullible Then Skeptical - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
A friend, Ute Shaw, asks why we seem too eager to believe the first opinion we hear on a subject, and then seem too skeptical about further contrary opinions...
robin hansonovercoming biasskeptical
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/whether-diamondhtml
Diamond Palace Survive? - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
The November National Geographic has spectacular picts of a gypsum cave found in a Mexico lead/silver mine:
diamond palacerobin hansonovercoming biassurvive
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/dont-enslave-digital-minds/comments
Comments - Don't Enslave Digital Minds - by Robin Hanson
Due to low cultural variety and weak selection pressures, our dominant world culture seems to be drifting into maladaptive dysfunction.
digital mindsrobin hansoncommentsenslave
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/med-like-car-insurehtml
Med Like Car Insure? - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
With car insurance, you typically first get a neutral expert diagnosis of the damage to your car. Second, you get a check based the estimated cost of a...
robin hansonovercoming biasmedlikecar
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/deliberation-inhtml
Deliberation in Prediction Markets - by Robin Hanson
prediction marketsrobin hansondeliberation
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/odd_kid_nameshtml
Odd Kid Names - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
From the May 5 New Scientist:
robin hansonovercoming biasoddkidnames
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/leadership-fantasieshtml/comments
Comments - Leadership Fantasies - by Robin Hanson
Predictions about leadership in 2030:
robin hansoncommentsleadershipfantasies
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/28328html/comments
Comments - Alcohol As Placebo - by Robin Hanson
A week ago I had dinner with a respected drug policy expert who disapproves of drug legalization because he sees big negative externalities from alcohol use,...
robin hansoncommentsalcoholplacebo
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/why-teen-paternhtml
Why Teen Paternalism? - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
Though in centuries past 15-19 year olds were treated as adults, today we often paternalistically restrict their behavior because of "immature" brains. An OpEd...
robin hansonovercoming biasteenpaternalism
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/shy-and-badly-dressedhtml/comments
Comments - Shy And Badly Dressed - by Robin Hanson
robin hansoncommentsshybadlydressed
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/homebased-group-insurancehtml/comments
Comments - Home-Based Group Insurance - by Robin Hanson
home basedgroup insurancerobin hansoncomments
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/join-we-meta-adaptionists
Join We Meta-Adaptionists - by Robin Hanson
Standard decision theory says that all decisions combine two key factors: opinions on values, and beliefs about facts.
robin hansonjoinmeta
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/open-thread-48html/comments
Comments - Open Thread - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
This is our monthly place to discuss relevant topics that have not appeared in recent posts.
open threadrobin hansonovercoming biascomments
https://www.overcomingbias.com/?s=gossip
Overcoming Bias | Robin Hanson | Substack
This is a blog on why we believe and do what we do, why we pretend otherwise, how we might do better, and what our descendants might do, if they don't all die....
overcoming biasrobin hansonsubstack
https://events.foresight.org/summary/robin-hanson-george-mason-university-deflecting-the-sacred/
Robin Hanson, George Mason University | Deflecting The Sacred - Foresight Institute
Jun 12, 2023 - Presenter Robin Hanson, George Mason University Robin Dale Hanson is an associate professor of economics at George Mason University and a research
george mason universityrobin hansonthe sacredforesight institute
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/why-newshtml
Why News? - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
Google Alerts has failed me.
robin hansonovercoming biasnews
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/my-status-circles
My Status Circles - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
Most of us have circles of concern, where we care more about folks from our inner circles than our outer circles.
my statusrobin hansonovercoming biascircles
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/accountable_finhtml
Accountable Financial Regulation - by Robin Hanson
financial regulationrobin hansonaccountable
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/fair-landownerthtml
Fair Landowner Coffee - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
Many people feel proud of buying "fair trade" coffee, because it is supposed to help the poor people who grow the coffee. But it turns out that the benefits go...
robin hansonovercoming biasfairlandownercoffee
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/true-em-grithtml/comments
Comments - True Em Grit - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
The new movie True Grit is a well-done celebration of the central farmer value of self-control.
robin hansonovercoming biascommentstrueem
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/feels-gone-wrong
Feels Gone Wrong - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
The films A Complete Unknown, on Bob Dylan, and In Restless Dreams, on Paul Simon, make vivid to me the huge emotional appeal of becoming a musician like them.
robin hansonovercoming biasfeelsgonewrong
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/unincorporated-manhtml/comments
Comments - Unincorporated Man - by Robin Hanson
The science fiction novel, The Unincorporated Man, is widely praised for its thought-provoking premise. Yet I find no evidence that it provoked thought about...
robin hansoncommentsman
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/five-ways-to-ratehtml/comments
Comments - Five Ways to Rate - by Robin Hanson
When we have people and orgs do things for us, we need ways to rate them.
five waysrobin hansoncommentsrate
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/bias-is-a-red-queen-gamehtml
Bias Is A Red Queen Game - by Robin Hanson
It takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. The Red Queen.
is arobin hansonbiasredqueen
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/women-in-management-prediction-markethtml
Bottom Boss Prediction Market - by Robin Hanson
Sheryl Sandberg and Rachel Thomas write:
prediction marketrobin hansonbottomboss
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/how-idealists-aid-cheatershtml
How Idealists Aid Cheaters - by Robin Hanson
Humans have long used norms to great advantage to coordinate behavior.
robin hansonaidcheaters
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/let-all-med-hang-outhtml
Let All Med Hang Out? - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
I assign my undergrad students papers on unusual policy proposals, and grade those papers on the number of important relevant arguments offered, pro or con.
hang outrobin hansonovercoming biasletmed
https://benedante.blogspot.com/2021/10/robin-hanson-on-dominance-vs-prestige.html
bensozia: Robin Hanson on Dominance vs. Prestige
Robin Hanson has a go at explaining much about human society via a dichotomy between dominance and prestige. We, under this theory, mostly ...
robin hansondominancevsprestige
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/value-of-virginityhtml
Value Of Virginity - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
robin hansonovercoming biasvaluevirginity
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/spaceship-earth-in-culture-spacehtml
Spaceship Earth Explores Culture Space - by Robin Hanson
Space: the final frontier.
spaceship earthrobin hansonculture
https://www.podcasts.ox.ac.uk/index.php/people/robin-hanson
Robin Hanson | University of Oxford Podcasts
university of oxfordrobin hansonpodcasts
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/contributors_behtml
Contributors: Be Half Accessible - by Robin Hanson
We intended this "web forum" to be a cross between a group blog and a conversation among experts. We want to both attract readers to highlight our cause, and...
robin hansoncontributorshalfaccessible
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/carbon-is-losthtml
Is Carbon Lost Cause? - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
Browsing a Royal Society Phil Trans special issue on geo-engineering and reading a paper by Lane and Montgomery tempts me to ask: is carbon a lost cause?
lost causerobin hansonovercoming biascarbon
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/hypocritical-flatteryhtml
Hypocritical Flattery - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
Humans usually have a social norm against flattery.
robin hansonovercoming biasflattery
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/is-she-just-beihtml
Is She Just Friendly? - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
Men often have trouble knowing what women want. In particular, men have trouble telling if a women is just being friendly or has a more sexual interest. This...
robin hansonovercoming biasfriendly
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/polygamy-hypocrisyhtml/comments
Comments - Polygamy Hypocrisy - by Robin Hanson
Polygamy is on trial in Canada, where one of the issues is what justifies anti-polygamy laws infringing on the choices of consenting adults.
robin hansoncommentspolygamyhypocrisy
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/three-value-clumps
Three Value Clumps - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
I have long posted on studies that try to make sense of how human values differ, and how they have changed over time.
robin hansonovercoming biasthreevalueclumps
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/science-fiction-is-fantasyhtml/comments
Comments - Science Fiction Is Fantasy - by Robin Hanson
Why do people like fantasy novels?
science fictionrobin hansoncommentsfantasy
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/consider-controlled-infectionhtml/comments
Comments - Consider Controlled Infection - by Robin Hanson
In many places long ago, in families with many kids, as soon as one kid caught an illness, parents would put the other kids in close contact, so they could all...
robin hansoncommentsconsidercontrolledinfection
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/popular-fields-less-accuratehtml
Popular Fields Less Accurate - by Robin Hanson
robin hansonpopularfieldslessaccurate
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/caplan-gums-bulhtml
Caplan Gums Bullet - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
robin hansonovercoming biasgumsbullet
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/open-thread-42html/comments
Comments - Open Thread - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
This is our monthly place to discuss relevant topics that have not appeared in recent posts.
open threadrobin hansonovercoming biascomments
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/missing-life-lessonshtml
Missing Life-Lessons - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
We learn many things over the space of our lives.
missing liferobin hansonovercoming biaslessons
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/theories-arent-just-metaphorshtml/comments
Comments - Theories vs. Metaphors - by Robin Hanson
I have said things like:
robin hansoncommentstheoriesvsmetaphors
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/a-post-em-era-hinthtml/comments
Comments - A Post-Em-Era Hint - by Robin Hanson
a postrobin hansoncommentsemera
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/open-thread-15html
Open Thread - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
Here is our monthly place to discuss Overcoming Bias topics that have not appeared in recent posts.
open threadrobin hansonovercoming bias
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/on-our-ownhtml
On Our Own - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
When you are treated unjustly, so much that it bothers you a lot, on ave.
on our ownrobin hansonovercoming bias
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/breadth-humor-show-privilegehtml
Breadth, Humor Show Privilege - by Robin Hanson
Imagine an old costume drama, showing servants interacting with those they serve.
robin hansonbreadthhumorshowprivilege
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/medical-wealth-effectshtml/comments
Comments - Medical Wealth Effects - by Robin Hanson
Imagine being a cash-poor college student who likes expensive sports cars.
robin hansoncommentsmedicalwealtheffects
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/preferences-awarenesshtml
Preferences Awareness - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
robin hansonovercoming biaspreferencesawareness
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/blind_winnershtml
Blind Winners - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
In the late 1980s, when I was a nobody working on my own on "hypertext publishing," our name then for what would become the web, I gave a talk on the subject...
robin hansonovercoming biasblindwinners
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/we-trust-the-statusfulhtml
We Trust The Statusful - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
The ancient world heavily favored aristocrats for important social positions.
we trustrobin hansonovercoming bias
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/intelligent-deshtml
Intelligent Design Honesty - by Robin Hanson
The excellent and famous philosopher Thomas Nagel on teaching intelligent design:
intelligent designrobin hansonhonesty
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/words-vs-betshtml
Words Vs. Bets - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
I once had a long discussion with Ken Steiglitz about P=NP, while I was still at Princeton.
robin hansonovercoming biaswordsvsbets
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/today-is-filter-dayhtml/comments
Comments - Today Is Filter Day - by Robin Hanson
By tracking daily news fluctuations, we can have fun, join in common conversations, and signal our abilities to track events and to quickly compose clever...
today isrobin hansoncommentsfilter
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/gas-artibragehtml
Gas Arbitrage - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
When I bought my Miata the dealer told me to use premium gas, but my wife recently suggested I try regular. At which point I considered midgrade gas, and...
robin hansonovercoming biasgasarbitrage
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/beware-detached-detailhtml/comments
Comments - Beware Detached Detail - by Robin Hanson
Yesterday I talked about how "social minds must both make good decisions, and present good images to others" and suggested "the near-far brain division can be...
robin hansoncommentsbewaredetacheddetail
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/are-nations-tribeshtml
Are Nations Tribes? - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
robin hansonovercoming biasnationstribes
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/our-authoritarian-default
Our Authoritarian Default - by Robin Hanson
Many intellectuals, and intellectual wannabes, would, if pressed accept that UFOs seem sufficiently puzzling to justify more careful study.
robin hansonauthoritariandefault
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/the-longshot-biashtml/comments
Comments - The Longshot Bias - by Robin Hanson
I should have reported on this Snowberg-Wolfers paper long ago:
robin hansoncommentslongshotbias
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/my-fertility-posts
My Fertility Posts - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
These are my blog posts on fertility, in reverse chronological order:
robin hansonovercoming biasfertilityposts
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/this-too-shall-pass
This Too Shall Pass - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
The world economy grew by a factor of twenty over the last century, and five over the prior century.
robin hansonovercoming biasshallpass
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/biased-revengehtml
Biased Revenge? - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
Yesterday Bryan Caplan asked:
robin hansonovercoming biasbiasedrevenge
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/scott-adams-onhtml
Scott Adams on Bias - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
To me, Justin Timberlake sounds like a shockingly untalented guy with a lot of musical training.
scott adamsrobin hansonbiasovercoming
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/cloud-seeding-mhtml/comments
Comments - Cloud Seeding Markets - by Robin Hanson
Nature considers cloud-seeding:
cloud seedingrobin hansoncommentsmarkets
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/ignoring-advicehtml/comments
Comments - Ignoring Advice - by Robin Hanson
When do people listen to advice? I teach my health econ students about studies showing no effect from randomized trials giving (or not giving) advice to teens...
robin hansoncommentsignoringadvice
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/brin-says-cryonics-selfishhtml
Brin Says Cryonics Selfish - by Robin Hanson
Like Tyler, sf author David Brin says cryonics is selfish:
robin hansonbrinsayscryonicsselfish
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/given-our-date-is-sun-birth-latehtml
Given Our Date, Is Sun Birth Late? - by Robin Hanson
In our grabby aliens paper, we use a simple model that predicts the appearance of advanced life in terms of when habitable stars are formed, how long they...
robin hansongivendatesunbirth
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/break-cryonics-downhtml/comments
Comments - Break Cryonics Down - by Robin Hanson
The essence of analysis is to "break it down", to take apart vague wholes into clearer parts. For the same reasons we make point lists to help us make tough...
robin hansoncommentsbreakcryonics
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/on-what-is-advice-usefulhtml/comments
Comments - On What Is Advice Useful? - by Robin Hanson
Regarding what areas of our life do we think advisors can usefully advise?
what isrobin hansoncommentsadviceuseful
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/pick-one-sick-kids-or-look-poorhtml
Pick One: Sick Kids or Look Poor - by Robin Hanson
sick kidsrobin hansonpickonelook
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/fairness-in-love-and-warhtml/comments
Comments - Fairness in Love And War - by Robin Hanson
The rules of fair play do not apply in love and war. John Lyly, Euphues, 1578.
love and warrobin hansoncommentsfairness
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/anti-edgyhtml/comments
Comments - Anti-Edgy - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
In the art world something is "edgy" if it might well shock ordinary folks, but of course not in-the-know folks. The idea seems to be that ordinary folks are...
robin hansonovercoming biascommentsantiedgy
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/nature-culture-or-law
Nature, Culture, Or Law? - by Robin Hanson
To get your child potty trained, I see three approaches:
robin hansonnatureculturelaw
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/beware_of_disaghtml
Beware of Disagreeing with Lewis - by Robin Hanson
David Lewis, my guess for the most important philosopher of the last half century, seems to reduce philosophers who disagree with him to saying "just because,...
robin hansonbewaredisagreeinglewis
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/ai-pause-regs-look-risky
AI Pause Regs Look Risky - by Robin Hanson
robin hansonaipauseregslook
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/world-welfare-shtml
World Welfare State - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
At at the city, state, or national levels we sometimes "help the poor" via initiatives to "develop" this or that region, but what we mostly have is "welfare"...
welfare staterobin hansonovercoming biasworld
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/beware-mob-war-strategyhtml/comments
Comments - Beware Mob War Strategy - by Robin Hanson
The game theory is clear: it can be in your interest to make threats that it would not be in your interest to carry out.
robin hansoncommentsbewaremobstrategy
https://www.econlib.org/archives/2009/06/robin_hanson_on.html
Robin Hanson on the Signalling Process - Econlib
Apr 5, 2018 - He writes, a boss who has known you for years may not promote you unless you get a better degree, even if that teaches you nothing useful for your job. He...
robin hansonsignallingprocesseconlib
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/seeking-culture-epics
Seeking Culture Epics - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
Most stories are small, about short periods in the lives of a few people or small groups.
robin hansonovercoming biasseekingcultureepics
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/graeme-wood-on-furarchyhtml
Graeme Wood on Futarchy - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
At the end of his article on the deaths of Intrade and its founder John Delaney, Graeme Wood considers futarchy:
graeme woodrobin hansonovercoming biasfutarchy
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/take-origins-seriouslyhtml
Take Origins Seriously - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
We have a strong tendency to believe what we were taught to believe.
robin hansonovercoming biastakeoriginsseriously
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/caplan-debate-statushtml/comments
Comments - Caplan Debate Status - by Robin Hanson
In this post I summarize my recent disagreement with Bryan Caplan.
robin hansoncommentsdebatestatus
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/near-cares-morehtml
Near Cares More - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
We care more about things in near view, vs.
more byrobin hansonovercoming biasnearcares
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/a-perfect-storm-of-inflexibilityhtml
A Perfect Storm of Inflexibility - by Robin Hanson
Most biological species specialize for particular ecological niches.
a perfect stormrobin hanson
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/is-the-city-ularity-nearhtml
Is The City-ularity Near? - by Robin Hanson
The land around New York City is worth a lot. A 2008 analysis estimated prices for land, not counting buildings etc., for most (~80%?) of the nearby area (2750...
the cityrobin hansonnear
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/shoo-libertarian-trollshtml
Shoo Libertarian Knights - by Robin Hanson
Dear libertarian knight seeking to win honor via comment battles with heathen blogger dragons:
robin hansonshoolibertarianknights
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/only-do-math-homeworkhtml
Only Do Math Homework - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
Following an identification strategy that allows us to largely eliminate unobserved student and teacher traits, we examine the effect of homework on math,...
math homeworkrobin hansonovercoming bias
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/welcome-carl-shulmanhtml
Welcome Carl Shulman - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
Today we welcome a fourth author at Overcoming Bias: Carl Shulman.
robin hansonovercoming biaswelcomecarlshulman
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/who-likes-band-musichtml
Who Likes Band Music? - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
Smiling politely through yet another performance by my son's school band tonight, I wondered: why do school bands play music so different from what the kids,...
band musicrobin hansonovercoming biaslikes
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/how-to-pick-a-quackhtml
How To Pick A Quack: Data - by Robin Hanson
How do we pick, or think we should pick, our experts?
how to pickrobin hansonquackdata
https://www.overcomingbias.com/p/uppity-chinahtml
Uppity China - by Robin Hanson - Overcoming Bias
He started it! I was just minding my own business when out of the blue he looked at me funny. So I had to clock him.
robin hansonovercoming biaschina