The "Lizardman's Constant" is a fascinating idea from Scott Alexander (Astral Codex Ten). Scott argues that approximately 4% of survey responses on polls/surveys are not sincere - hence why 4% of respondents are found to report believing that lizardmen run the Earth and 5% of atheists say they believe in god, etc.
I'd like to introduce a related idea that can ruin studies: the "Nonsense Factor." As Scott rightly points out, in any study, some respondents do not answer based on their sincere ...
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quality control
The Costs and Benefits of Guilds
Written: March 8, 2018 | Released: July 2, 2021
Guilds are common and enormously influential today. We're so used to the way that society is organized that it's easy not to notice what a "guild-based" society we have. While guilds provide major benefits, they also come with societal costs that I think are almost always under-appreciated.
What I'm referring to here are professional groups that have achieved a monopoly or near-monopoly on providing a certain type of service. (Note: I'll be ...
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