Fascinating stuff. I think this is probably your best piece as of yet because good looks mean nothing if their outcomes don’t increase what actually matters: happiness/life satisfaction in the limited time we have on earth.
On another note, even if we are replacing one ‘blackpill’ for another, gene editing for psychological maladjustments could be feasible within the next few decades through technologies like CRISPR and the rise of AI medical technology which can already modify genes related to physical conditions and certain inherited diseases.
Everything you put out basically just says to the majority "don't worry guys all these maladjusted cretins are garbage, they believe total bullshit and are seething brainlets" and basically you change the black pill from the admittedly false 'loads of men are struggling against some global chad pyramid' to 'if you are struggling with these issues you are a tiny minority and basically aren't worth caring about'
This is just about subjective well-being which isn’t the same as objective wellbeing
Maybe attractive people take it for granted it ugly peoples maybe are blissfully ignorant
There’s even a study out there that ugly people overestimate their own attractiveness but there’s some evidence showing that self rated attractiveness and objective attractiveness are correlated
This doesn’t disprove the fact that attractive people do have advantages more than less attractive people.
'This is just about subjective well-being which isn’t the same as objective wellbeing'
I don't know what measure you'd suggest for 'objective wellbeing', but there was also little to no correlation with physical health, and none with somatic depression.
Can you really be blissfully ignorant of your own psychological pain? Or I guess you mean they aren't aware of what the baseline is supposed to be? Wouldn't we expect to see some longitudinal effects though?
'There’s even a study out there that ugly people overestimate their own attractiveness but there’s some evidence showing that self rated attractiveness and objective attractiveness are correlated'
People in general tend to exhibit a positive self-perceptual bias for traits considered good. There is a correlation but it's quite weak, as shown by one of the studies here.
'This doesn’t disprove the fact that attractive people do have advantages more than less attractive people.'
Like the previous comment you made, you're making points that aren't in contention. But either these advantages are weaker than typically thought, or their impact on psychological wellbeing is weaker than typically thought.
obviously this is about intellectual disabilities, but it writes about how disabled people, unlike people with disorders, don't have reduced subjective wellbeing, but still have objectively worse wellbeing. this article kinda is like what i'm describing
ugly people could have average wellbeing and maybe they don't deal with the struggles ofc of people with disorders for example, and they thus might have the ability to deal with it more, but objectively, they do have a big disadvantage in life.
like short men for example, outside dating, do face heightism a lot, and they earn less money or face job discrimination more than tall men. there's a reason most CEOs and presidents are men. short men have not necessarily be less happy, but it's understandable why they don't like their height in many cases because of heightism. even short women sometimes face heightism. i'm not talking about height in dating by the way.
that's kinda what i meant, but i think attractive people might take their advantage for granted. having disorders, however, tends to ruin subjective wellbeing.
Okay. Isn't subjective wellbeing what matters though?
'they earn less money or face job discrimination more than tall men.'
I don't think the effect of height on income is stronger for men than women, so I'm not convinced that heightism is a significant factor there--unless you think it applies equally to women. One study I read showed that height didn't provide any upward mobility. Other factors like higher average IQs and starting SES are probably more relevant.
Fascinating stuff. I think this is probably your best piece as of yet because good looks mean nothing if their outcomes don’t increase what actually matters: happiness/life satisfaction in the limited time we have on earth.
On another note, even if we are replacing one ‘blackpill’ for another, gene editing for psychological maladjustments could be feasible within the next few decades through technologies like CRISPR and the rise of AI medical technology which can already modify genes related to physical conditions and certain inherited diseases.
Everything you put out basically just says to the majority "don't worry guys all these maladjusted cretins are garbage, they believe total bullshit and are seething brainlets" and basically you change the black pill from the admittedly false 'loads of men are struggling against some global chad pyramid' to 'if you are struggling with these issues you are a tiny minority and basically aren't worth caring about'
If you have a specific objection to any claims I've made I'd love to hear it.
Not sure where the idea that an issue needs to be pervasive to be worth 'caring about' came from.
Yea, and he's right to see it that way
I think it's fair to say that confidence doesn't really matter when it comes to attracting women.
This is just about subjective well-being which isn’t the same as objective wellbeing
Maybe attractive people take it for granted it ugly peoples maybe are blissfully ignorant
There’s even a study out there that ugly people overestimate their own attractiveness but there’s some evidence showing that self rated attractiveness and objective attractiveness are correlated
This doesn’t disprove the fact that attractive people do have advantages more than less attractive people.
'This is just about subjective well-being which isn’t the same as objective wellbeing'
I don't know what measure you'd suggest for 'objective wellbeing', but there was also little to no correlation with physical health, and none with somatic depression.
Can you really be blissfully ignorant of your own psychological pain? Or I guess you mean they aren't aware of what the baseline is supposed to be? Wouldn't we expect to see some longitudinal effects though?
'There’s even a study out there that ugly people overestimate their own attractiveness but there’s some evidence showing that self rated attractiveness and objective attractiveness are correlated'
People in general tend to exhibit a positive self-perceptual bias for traits considered good. There is a correlation but it's quite weak, as shown by one of the studies here.
'This doesn’t disprove the fact that attractive people do have advantages more than less attractive people.'
Like the previous comment you made, you're making points that aren't in contention. But either these advantages are weaker than typically thought, or their impact on psychological wellbeing is weaker than typically thought.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35679004/
obviously this is about intellectual disabilities, but it writes about how disabled people, unlike people with disorders, don't have reduced subjective wellbeing, but still have objectively worse wellbeing. this article kinda is like what i'm describing
ugly people could have average wellbeing and maybe they don't deal with the struggles ofc of people with disorders for example, and they thus might have the ability to deal with it more, but objectively, they do have a big disadvantage in life.
like short men for example, outside dating, do face heightism a lot, and they earn less money or face job discrimination more than tall men. there's a reason most CEOs and presidents are men. short men have not necessarily be less happy, but it's understandable why they don't like their height in many cases because of heightism. even short women sometimes face heightism. i'm not talking about height in dating by the way.
that's kinda what i meant, but i think attractive people might take their advantage for granted. having disorders, however, tends to ruin subjective wellbeing.
Okay. Isn't subjective wellbeing what matters though?
'they earn less money or face job discrimination more than tall men.'
I don't think the effect of height on income is stronger for men than women, so I'm not convinced that heightism is a significant factor there--unless you think it applies equally to women. One study I read showed that height didn't provide any upward mobility. Other factors like higher average IQs and starting SES are probably more relevant.
Objective wellbeing matters too, and shows that certain people face objective disadvantages.
Heightism is a serious issue and it does mainly affect men
https://download.ssrn.com/18/04/22/ssrn_id3166828_code2984665.pdf?response-content-disposition=attachment%3B%20filename%3Dssrn-3166828.pdf&X-Amz-Security-Token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjEJX%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2FwEaCXVzLWVhc3QtMSJGMEQCIHZ11%2B2Nh9yww5tNEpTh9KXK9Yh5CUSCCUs%2BOuJbIyl6AiAu931DTgf3YjWjU2dOzBYgiEI6ngVqcqKDmqI1reiYwCrGBQjN%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F8BEAQaDDMwODQ3NTMwMTI1NyIMWOcC9lXVtSYic4yoKpoFTcadSvZqSElpEirzk%2FWy4Th3bffDFTsukQrlu%2FDyitoh%2FU%2FoUQJDaOEbFVPagntwV5IZjSu8mYzqIcleUFGyl11k3n%2B%2FxtFgWkTyVIAMb9TwMHpO%2B44AExGVoK%2Fe3Ot9G2Lmy3xKshzHdl7HistwNEruj0ZAnX%2BQGmzpZhK5y18rA8GMdNxop9tgQz69lrVjU%2BjCMC2yXrDyRlg44%2FfgrZ5ma0Jx1ZiKDaOGVbc9TO9H2yzBV7P8pOSB1EsO0xsY56UO%2BmrcT6jmScHC0HpLBTKompZ5VZySFx4DIezp2Aq5GCxaAi5VogboC1vVXVjSIiQBl2hTWkgpZpbGQwc99Zzb4qudZNEyGUtZepqE3pTiFB7lmTq%2FeGbF1obh9eN59FPgAeEvRnsqQC7RujO1dYLeeJaUkw6cch28wgBihUXbZpgQOhWBsR3CSkQBKaVGq5iBWq1ly1lpz%2Fx5okn4%2BsN0Ctodhc6lsYysen2pFpFv7Msqe2KO7QXngBwEUynOGolaDnvQOpjpH63T%2FtG9mCX5ppe7OEAF7Qm%2B67QH0Iid%2FOFw6OR%2BNk59QJl6NbmfVBb0KqvsntR4ER0xNwp5oWAtD9wqXxV2Yczs%2Bv5MU227Wif4w1thnBkb9vQ70eLfKM3eXABhQ9%2BuyGMtmFoAxL3AX4urHBYIgf%2FhfEU6JmEzern0KdMA0RC0YsW1giCaXNTWJ3Qy0u%2FGl6rWWc3ZnjB%2FXCM45K%2BJTUhVBrE1j%2BuXTxhJRbF8VQW3Dah%2Byr8xS0Rsz4qgp4QNWo9G%2BNEfs%2BVBMH20Dk7qjvhtywJrnFbSZFj3sxcSVqKHCMKLGjmhOq9QSP5uQy%2Fs82dvUadvQRlw0srlGfNNVsQ6O0vfL%2BqOwQ4orXgSXazfMMTclL4GOrIBSelvm%2F3tLuShUM%2BTXDEmmcFJpMD%2FYhdfkuK8azKT%2Fy9HbaXpkVE5Z23AAWQjWNCb%2BaGq1Y3bI9s1XgIxYLdl%2FHQEZUbFxL%2FRY5OeJQdriZz7RmBcp0roGiimVaoWb0WQwYaR22J2AOmJtnhlBEGFQHoBYXt9dIuTz46l4DyCLg65rOB66eamqrMubpiqz0m9717Wrp90xZv7ul72Vc2jQuoQolVJwYSZ%2BSH6zJDcx9kykw%3D%3D&X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Date=20250303T051907Z&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Expires=300&X-Amz-Credential=ASIAUPUUPRWERJ2AUNVD%2F20250303%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Signature=6c4e5a84e19007478b8ac156442221d00699aa4527fa4c4ed1c14364e6af6afe&abstractId=3166828
I love your work! Would you be up for talking through some of your findings on a podcast?