

How much do looks matter? Freakonomics Quorum. - dangoldin
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/10/how-much-do-looks-matter-a-freakonomics-quorum/

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byrneseyeview
Don't miss the comments:

I recall the story of a young boy who had a large wine-colored birthmark that
a large part of his face. His mother, of course, was heartbroken. But she
refused to be daunted. She told him that he could not change what he looked
like, but he could impress people so much by what was within that they would
not care about his appearance.

That young man went on to be a college president.

And from personal experience, I have found that some women, while more
objectively beautiful than others, are not nearly so sexy. You would think….
But when a lady knows how to carry herself, present herself, and enjoys
laughing and fellowshiping at the fullest, it is incredibly attractive.

And then, my own world. Having been a big guy all my life (I know am in the
mid 400s, and hope to have gastric bypass one day), I can only say that, yes,
I’ve experienced some weight related “bias.”

There were likely girls that didn’t give me a second look (and yet, I still
married a total looker 13 years younger than me–going on 11 years together
now). Or perhaps the truth is that I didn’t even take the chance because I
convinced myself that it wouldn’t happen. (And it likely would not have, but
still….)

I feel that I am two levels below where I should be in my career. In looks,
I’d give myself a 6 (not for physical attractiveness, but for personality and
so forth–so help me, several really pretty women have had crushes on me–go
figure). But in intelligence, I think I likely have about as good an aptitude
as anyone (of course, when it comes to physics, I’m tower like a colossus
over, oh, 10% of the poopulation). So I’d give myself a 9 in intelligence (OK,
and 8).

And yet, though I tend to get most of the jobs I interview for, and though I
get good reviews, I am two levels down from where I think I should be–and
where I KNOW I am worthy to be.

I could mark it down to being a BFM (Big Fat Man). And that may indeed be the
case. But I also wonder how much of it is attributable to my rock-the-boat
type thinking. I’m not afraid to write to my CEO with a great new idea (and
skip everyone above me in the chain-of-command). I tend to question things and
want to improve processes on a regular basis.

I don’t know that I’d feel any better if that was the reason I hadn’t
progressed further. After all, not knowing when to leave off the maverick
stuff is somewhat of a business flaw, I suppose. But I would indeed be very
hurt to think that someone didn’t give me a chance becuase of my size.

Of course, I do well enough. But I do notice that salespersons tend to be
pretty, blonde, long-legged, big-breasted young ladies. You would think people
could see through such manipulation.

Lastly, I am fortunate to work for a world class Fortune 20 company that seeks
to treat me well (of course, getting rid of all those too-small chairs would
be nice, too.)

— Posted by AaronS

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time_management
# 14. July 10th, 2008 3:43 pm

You want above average?

<http://www.youtube.com/clintosterholz>

I’m above average. Everyone else up there is a 5 or a 6. I think Debb Thorne
is the only one to assess herself most honestly.

— Posted by Clint

To be fair to him, he is above-average, but he's no less comical in his high
self-rating and general cockiness than any of the interviewees.

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jrockway
This is hilarious; the less intelligent someone actually is, they higher they
rate themselves. Intelligence is knowing what you don't know.

And everyone is way off base with the attractiveness. I would say everyone
pictured there is pretty normal in terms of looks. Not bad looking, not
awesome looking either. I think most people are average looking (what a
concept), but few people want to admit it.

I am average looking :)

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mynameishere
Attractiveness is context sensitive. Go to this page, and click on "photos"
for the various women,

<http://www.fashionmodeldirectory.com/models/search/now>

Now, with rare exceptions, ALL of them are perfect 10s. And yet the votes
hover around 5 or 6. None of them rate the "8" that the woman in the link gave
herself. Yet, down at the wastewater treatment facility, she's probably indeed
an 8. Or at the local WalMart. Or a lot of places.

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coglethorpe
Talk about unintentional comedy. Maybe people do better if they think they are
far more attractive than they really are.

Best quote: "Traditionally, the adult entertainment industry has been
extremely image based and primarily focused on beauty, health, style, and
youthfulness."

~~~
time_management
Don't forget thinking they're smarter than they are.

I think that most of the respondents were working based off of a school
grading scale, where 6.0 is barely passing and 8.5 is average (mid-B), so to
give oneself a 5 is to admit failure. The professor, on the other hand, seemed
to be working on a (5, 2) normal distribution that, to make things even
tougher, was based on her young, academic peers. Hence, the more modest
ratings coming from her.

If they had asked me, I'd have given myself a 2 for both, just to be
different.

~~~
indiejade
Good observation; that was my initial thinking as well -- (5,2) as a normal
distribution. Side note: the comment by the guy "A Sane Man" praising the PhD
for her humility was pretty funny.

~~~
time_management
Yeah, that comment was pretty awesome.

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wallflower
It's like dancing, if you can't dance but are confident and are having
enjoying yourself/having fun, it's attractive.

Your overall look can be improved slightly (ignoring cosmetic surgery) with
the right clothes and attitude. Confidence is dynamic and fluid and can wax
(and wane).

If you have have the skills and confidence, it's a powerful combination. My
friend Jason's beautiful girlfriend wasn't that confident when he met her but
he has helped her build up her confidence.

Most of the most confident people I've met aren't really good looking (5 or
6s) but they make people feel good.

Reading Daniel Goleman's "Emotional Intelligence" pointed out to me that if
you lack confidence the other person can intuitively sense it and emphathize
[e.g. feel your fear/lack of confidence] (the classic creeping out a random
person you see in public that you are attracted to)

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pmorici
I found it funny that no matter what they rated themselves on looks they all
rated themselves slightly higher on intelligence.

I take this to mean that while it can't hurt to be good looking being
perceived as good looking and stupid is not.

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nazgulnarsil
I would guess that about 3%-5% of the population is actually attractive. and
that's being optimistic. the same for intelligence.

combine the two and you have anywhere from .25% to .09% of the populace as
actually worthwhile :p

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jwesley
This is why startups need "business" people.

