
Clive Thompson on How Group Think Rules What We Like - niyazpk
http://www.wired.com/magazine/2009/12/st_clive_thompson/
======
RyanMcGreal
FTA:

> Eventually, some of the previously top-ranked songs began to creep back up,
> and previously bottom-ranked ones slid down. And people in the upside-down
> world downloaded fewer songs overall.

Funny how the article emphasized our sheepishness while relegating clear
counter-evidence to the dregs of the article.

Also: why is the article titled, "Clive Thompson on How Group Think Rules What
We Like", if not to trade on Thompson's presumed popularity? (Disclosure: I've
never heard of him. Not sure if that should make me less or more susceptible
to the groupthink of seeing his name in the headline.)

------
alanthonyc
_they ranked the fake-high ones high, even downloading them, while snubbing
the fake-low ones. Apparently, flat-out lying works. But only sometimes.
Eventually, some of the previously top-ranked songs began to creep back up,
and previously bottom-ranked ones slid down._

My takeaway: Societal cues are a heuristic that can help people make decisions
more quickly/efficiently. However, these can be overturned (when wrong) by
actual evaluations of intrinsic quality.

I actually don't see anything wrong with that system.

------
jasonshen
What's ironic is that HN is just like that. A very meta link.

------
billybob
I had trouble parsing that headline - a rousing game of "find the verb."

