Psychology of Misjudgment #7. Kantian Fairness Tendency

[LongHaul]

7. Kantian Fairness Tendency

 

"Kant was famous for his “categorical imperative,” a sort of a “golden rule” that requires humans to follow those behavior patterns that, if followed by all others, would make the surrounding human system work best for everybody. And it is not too much to say that modern accultured man displays, and expects from others, a lot of fairness as thus defined by Kant."

 

"Who knew that when you’re generally nice to people — show a mild level of decency — that people are nice back. Of course, not everyone follows along. The random jerk exists. Trolls provoke. You can take it personally, get angry, and burn a ton of time and energy on it. Or you can not sweat the small stuff."

 

If someone could explain how this bias could end up affecting our decision making it would be most appreciated.

 

 

 

[Spekulatius]

Well you can always try to be nice first and have the option to become a jerk later. You can try it the other way around too, but then it usually doesn’t do much to be nice first or at least it will take a long time to get recognized.

[LC]

Kindness does not pay the bills. Neither does being an asshole - the point is to distinguish between personality and value.

[SharperDingaan]

I've always found that the 'rule of 3' works very well  :)

 

1. Sh1te happens. When somebody crosses you. accept the one-time cost - but have a friendly quiet word with them afterwards.

2. Angels tithe. When you're crossed again, accept the cost, but take precautions. Blunt discussion with the tone deaf.

3. Horse's head. Maximum recompense, no holds barred, try not to enjoy yourself too much.

 

SD

 

[Foreign Tuffett]

The so-called "Kantian Fairness Tendency" is a confused concept due to Munger misunderstanding Kantian ethics.

 

Here is how the categorical imperative is defined in "Poor Charlie's Almanac": "a sort of 'golden rule' that required humans to follow those behavior patterns that, if followed by all others, would make the surrounding human system work best for everybody."  (page #464)

 

However, Kantian ethics is deontological, so the last clause of the sentence simply isn't accurate. Deontological ethical systems are based on actions being right or wrong in-and-of themselves, not based on a higher good.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categorical_imperative

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deontological_ethics

[Spekulatius]

I've always found that the 'rule of 3' works very well  :)

 

1. Sh1te happens. When somebody crosses you. accept the one-time cost - but have a friendly quiet word with them afterwards.

2. Angels tithe. When you're crossed again, accept the cost, but take precautions. Blunt discussion with the tone deaf.

3. Horse's head. Maximum recompense, no holds barred, try not to enjoy yourself too much.

 

SD

 

LoL

Taleb Said that “Revenge is a moral obligation“

He also stated that “Time spent on revenge is never wasted”

 

 

The best book on revenge ever written is

“The count of Monte Christo”

[LongHaul]

So how would we make dumb decisions based on this Fairness Tendency?  Where would our minds go bad?

 

 

Random stuff from the Wikipedia page cited above

"Game theory

One form of the categorical imperative is superrationality.[23][24] The concept was elucidated by Douglas Hofstadter as a new approach to game theory. Unlike in conventional game theory, a superrational player will act as if all other players are superrational too and that a superrational agent will always come up with the same strategy as any other superrational agent when facing the same problem."

 

Perhaps Buffett and Munger surround themselves with the super rational in mgmt.  Simplifies and optimizes everything.

[cubsfan]

I've always found that the 'rule of 3' works very well  :)

 

1. Sh1te happens. When somebody crosses you. accept the one-time cost - but have a friendly quiet word with them afterwards.

2. Angels tithe. When you're crossed again, accept the cost, but take precautions. Blunt discussion with the tone deaf.

3. Horse's head. Maximum recompense, no holds barred, try not to enjoy yourself too much.

 

SD

 

Oh, I love this.. especially Marlon Brando's #3

 

"Try not to enjoy yourself too much" LOL

 

[Guest cherzeca]

kant essentially said a good check upon the ethical nature of your actions is if you act in a way such that you would want your actions to become a maxim for everybody's action.

 

this is the basis for the equal application of rules among similarly situated.  we tolerate differences (we permit bulk discounts that favor those who can afford more, for example), but not all of the time (we dont like price gouging during a crisis).

 

I dont see this as a cognitive bias, but rather an ethical meta-rule

 

yeah, I actually have read kant, though not in German...that's the acid test

[Jurgis]

Everything I know about ethics, I learned from computer games .

 

Here's the hypothetical situation that was presented in the beginning of Baldur's Gate II:

 

A sorcerer kidnaps you and your brother and places you both into cells. You cannot communicate. There's a button in each cell. If you press the button, you die, but your brother goes free. If your brother presses the button, he dies, but you go free. If no one presses the button, you both die. If both of you press the button, also both die.

 

What would you do?

 

 

 

Spoilers: assuming you and your brother are both homo economicus and both know game theory, what would you do?

 

Spoiler interlude: can you do better than the obvious answer?

 

Spoilers 2: It's interesting how ethics ties into information theory and game theory. At least for homo economicus. ;)

[Every Banana Counts]

In regards to fairness tendency Charlie points out that people often have the naturally occurring desire to treat others fairly, but this is not always the most effective way to structure an organizations policies. And example of this would be implementing a policy that a ship’s captain will be fired if their ship sinks no matter what caused the accident.  “A captain who vows to go down with the ship is much less likely to take that fatal dip.”

[SharperDingaan]

I've always found that the 'rule of 3' works very well  :)

 

1. Sh1te happens. When somebody crosses you. accept the one-time cost - but have a friendly quiet word with them afterwards.

2. Angels tithe. When you're crossed again, accept the cost, but take precautions. Blunt discussion with the tone deaf.

3. Horse's head. Maximum recompense, no holds barred, try not to enjoy yourself too much.

 

SD

 

Oh, I love this.. especially Marlon Brando's #3

 

"Try not to enjoy yourself too much" LOL

 

Man's got to know his limitations ...

https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=yhs-symantec-ext_onb&hsimp=yhs-ext_onb&hspart=symantec&p=a+man+has+no+know+his+limitations#id=3&vid=806b595af7f61ef8447fadee1c6baf01&action=click

 

SD