Is everyone getting a bit thicker?

begbysback

sbsquarepants wrote: »

Case in point. I have an engine light on in my car, I have no idea why, it just says in the manual to bring it to a dealer to be checked. I can't notice anything wrong with the car, if the light wasn't on I'd have no reason to suspect there was anything wrong. I'm not a car lover so I tend to ignore things until they need doing, but this light has been on for 2 1/2 years now - it's clearly not important. I do get it serviced (by a backstreet mechanic not a main dealer) I asked him what it was and he just said "cars grand, don't mind that!"
The cynic in me suspects that they may just be programmed to turn on every now and then! How would i know any different? A car these days is like a fecking space ship!

Nothing wrong with your light mate, sound like it's working perfectly to me

Mutant z

Well i wouldnt say everyone but certainly a particular proportion of the population those generally of the virtue signalling variety.

Grayson

Mutant z wrote: »

Well i wouldnt say everyone but certainly a particular proportion of the population those generally of the virtue signalling variety.

But not the people who use buzz words like "virtue signaling"?



Back on topic, I'm a nerd. A really big nerd. My speciality is logic and it crosses over into psychology quite a bit. It's how and why people think the things they do. It's a study of logic on a formal and intuitive level, the differences and why they exist.

People are making decisions in a different manner now. But part of that has to do with the influx of information that they have. It creates and feeds into biases on a very primitive level. As humans we are prone to making decisions that don't make sense. They make sense to the people making them but when you look at them coldly and critically you can see that they are based on false logic.

It's because we're designed to make instinctual decisions when we encounter risk. These decision making processes made sense when we were looking out for predators but they don't make sense in the modern world.

I think the information we're given can feed into these biases and reinforce bad decisions. And we're given so much that it's just confusing for most people. The news most people get now is based on the algorithms and likes from their social media feed. This gives everything from health advice, to politics to local news. It means that we see an explosion of anti vaxxers, fringe ideas and occasionally mobs (look at what's happened in Irish towns when someone posts that there's a paedophile in the area). And rather than get a nonbiased opinion they get reinforcements based on what they like. It's damn hard for people to change their minds normally, cognitive bias is real, however it's impossible to change your opinion when all you get is the same news.

And you can see it in some spheres when you argue with someone. there are new terms which were unheard of a decade ago which are now in common use. These are buzz words which people see in the news they follow and regurgitate.

Wibbs

sbsquarepants wrote: »

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The second part is much of your answer to the first. The less the owner can do, the more the dealer/manufacturer gains. You can get third party doohickeys that will plug into your car, interrogate the "brains" and tell what the code is and you can fix that and reset it. Independent mechanics that I know have such things. From what I gather mind you a lot of newer stuff has to go back to the main dealers as the doohickeys haven't caught up yet.

Permabear wrote: »

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True, though it can be an individual thing too. Some can be intellectually bright but useless on practical matters. All fingers and thumbs. And vice versa of course. Different skill sets, attributes and talents required in many ways. That same uncle I referenced in the last post was at the top of his professional field before he retired and he has noted that down the years. You'd have a rough divide between the cerebral and the practical individuals in the mix. He also noted that though he would have expected the cerebral types to be more represented, inventiveness and creativity was roughly divided equally between them. I would say "Renaissance men" who can work both sides were always pretty rare among the population and as you note modern society tends to make them rarer. It entirely depends on the area involved mind you. A subject like I dunno nuclear physics needs almost no "practical" talent, it's all cerebral. Engineering would be one where both would be involved. Medicine too to some degree. Having a few docs in the family it's very obvious that the ones who are surgeons are dab hands at the DIY and around the house in general.

That practical side is yet another thing IQ tests fall short of measuring. They only measure the cerebral. I have also found down the years that those who hold great confidence in IQ tests as a measure tend to be those who scored well in them.

Wibbs

Grayson wrote: »

there are new terms which were unheard of a decade ago which are now in common use. These are buzz words which people see in the news they follow and regurgitate.

and they're so easy to use as a shorthand and as a group signal and affiliation. People have always doen that, it's just the interwebs and media magnifies it. Plus humans have big complex indigestible questions - if and when they do question - but they inevitably seek out small simple digestible answers. Nearly always answers they think they've already answered for themselves.