[extropy-chat] Failure of low-fat diet

[Robin Hanson]

At 11:11 PM 2/21/2006, Keith Henson wrote:
> >quick to use the flaws to dismiss studies whose conclusions they 
> don't like,
> >and they hardly notice the flaws of the studies whole conclusions 
> they do like.
>
>... Now to raise this to a meta level, why do people get stuck on 
>preconceived
>expectations?
>
>Ground rules are: your explanation for this psychological trait has to have
>its origin in the stone age among hunter gather tribes *and* it has to have
>contributed to our ancestor's "reproductive success."    You may need to
>invoke Hamilton's inclusive fitness in your model to account for this trait.
>
>I don't have more than a foggy idea of how to account for why people get
>stuck on preconceived expectations, but this is the formula for attacking
>the question.
>
>Any ideas?

Well I suggest starting with http://hanson.gmu.edu/belieflikeclothes.html
If we understand why people get attached to clothing or music styles, we
can understand why they get attached to abstract beliefs.



Robin Hanson  rhanson at gmu.edu  http://hanson.gmu.edu
Associate Professor of Economics, George Mason University
MSN 1D3, Carow Hall, Fairfax VA 22030-4444
703-993-2326  FAX: 703-993-2323