Re:Help Wanted: America’s love affair with amateur advice
by kbenson on Wednesday October 31, 2018 @05:24PM
(#18349397)
> A stranger or advice columnist may not give good advice, but they are somewhat less likely to give advice designed to encourage you to cut your own throat for their personal benefit.
Why is that? I think it's just as likely they are willing to give advice they think the majority of their audience will agree with regardless of how well it helps the person in question. In this case, the conflict is fame vs usefulness.
I think every source will have some perverse incentives, so you can't just go by whether one exists, but instead by how likely it is, what the repercussions are if they're caught, and are there cultural or personal biases that work against those perverse incentives.
Does your psychiatrist seem like someone that actually wants to help people? Do they appear to be greedy or in financial trouble? Perhaps worrying they are trying to keep you as income is unwarranted, or perhaps it should be reconsidered after progress is stalled or they don't seem to have anything useful to contribute.
Are you going to family members or friends that you believe care about you and your well-being, and/or that are upstanding people in their own right? Perhaps that should be what you focus on instead of perceived favoritism or vying for inheritance.
Sometimes good advice is hard to take, and points out flaws you would rather not address given an alternative. Discounting everyone that might actually have knowledge of the situation and other perspectives in lieu of a distant third party seems like a convenient way to discount that advice when it doesn't match expectations because "they just don't understand the situation well enough".
Why is that? I think it's just as likely they are willing to give advice they think the majority of their audience will agree with regardless of how well it helps the person in question. In this case, the conflict is fame vs usefulness.
I think every source will have some perverse incentives, so you can't just go by whether one exists, but instead by how likely it is, what the repercussions are if they're caught, and are there cultural or personal biases that work against those perverse incentives.
Does your psychiatrist seem like someone that actually wants to help people? Do they appear to be greedy or in financial trouble? Perhaps worrying they are trying to keep you as income is unwarranted, or perhaps it should be reconsidered after progress is stalled or they don't seem to have anything useful to contribute.
Are you going to family members or friends that you believe care about you and your well-being, and/or that are upstanding people in their own right? Perhaps that should be what you focus on instead of perceived favoritism or vying for inheritance.
Sometimes good advice is hard to take, and points out flaws you would rather not address given an alternative. Discounting everyone that might actually have knowledge of the situation and other perspectives in lieu of a distant third party seems like a convenient way to discount that advice when it doesn't match expectations because "they just don't understand the situation well enough".