Categories:
Behavioral Economics
It sees to me that while people do vary in conformity, this variation is less in how much folks care about others’ evaluations, and more about which others they care about. “Conformists” tend to care about a common standard status audience – a usual mix of people weighted by a standard status. “Non-conformists,” in contrast, “march to the beat of a different drummer” by caring about non-standard status audiences.
When I was growing up, we had a phrase “Curt Flood’s daily miracle” to indicate that he would routinely make plays in center field that other outfielders could make rarely, if at all. Robin Hanson’s blog leaves me with the same feeling.
READER COMMENTS
Doc Merlin
Jun 29 2010 at 10:43pm
conforming nonconformists.
Daniel Klein
Jun 30 2010 at 5:21am
Excellent quotation from Robin.
It is very Smithian. Smith’s organon was to see all moral judgment enshrouded in sympathy (that is, mutually coordinated sentiment regarding the propriety of an action).
The sympathy may be with a being that is only imaginary. But even then it is the being that is imaginary, not the sympathy, according to Smith.
mark
Jun 30 2010 at 1:58pm
Agree with your assessment. Wow.
Chris T
Jun 30 2010 at 5:55pm
“If you want to be one of the nonconformists all you have to do is dress just like us and listen to the same music we do”
Mike Rulle
Jun 30 2010 at 10:04pm
Hmmm. I would love to see the operational experiment on that hypothesis. My two cents is a non-conformist is “inner directed” and less concerned about conforming to either the standard or non-standard opinions of others—-however defined.
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