Top all-time · #262
You Are Not So Smart
Personal blog · youarenotsosmart.comscienceculture
You Are Not So Smart is a personal blog at youarenotsosmart.com about science and culture. Since 2010, 186 different Hacker News readers have linked it 236 times, most often “Survivorship Bias”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-10-30, and you can follow it by feed.
Sometimes recommended · 12 of 40 sampled comments recommend it?
Why HN links it
HN readers link this blog for explanations of cognitive biases such as survivorship bias, confirmation bias and the sunk cost fallacy, and point to its podcast.
- Recommended for · 12 comments
- Called fascinating, well written, awesome, excellent, very readable, and a particularly nice listen.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 40 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Most-linked posts?
- Survivorship Bias18 people · 21 mentions · first linked 2013-05-24
- The Backfire Effect. Or: Why you can never win an argument online10 people · 11 mentions · first linked 2011-06-10
- Survivorship Bias (2013)10 people · 10 mentions · first linked 2016-11-03
- The Backfire Effect (2011)9 people · 9 mentions · first linked 2016-05-20
- You Are Not So Smart (podcast about cognitive biases and logical fallacies)8 people · 8 mentions · first linked 2011-07-08
- The Just-World Fallacy7 people · 7 mentions · first linked 2010-06-07
- The-illusion-of-asymmetric-insight7 people · 7 mentions · first linked 2011-08-23
- Venting actually makes you more aggressive6 people · 6 mentions · first linked 2010-08-18
- The truth about procrastination6 people · 6 mentions · first linked 2010-10-27
- Confirmation Bias6 people · 6 mentions · first linked 2010-06-24
What Hacker News says?
That may be so. Where I live, in SF, they make no difference (there are seconds indicators on the crosswalks --they do not change at the pressing of the button). Nor does pressing them at a crosswalk in the stop phase change normal traffic light phase change. Here is some info: http://youarenotsosmart.com/2010/02/10/placebo-buttons/
Comment linking /2010/02/10/placebo-buttons/
on “$1B of TSA Nude Body Scanners Made Worthless By Blog ”Submitted The Just-World Fallacy as a story · 80 points
HN discussionIn my office, opinions are 50/50 on this. Interview with Lazlo Bock on Google's hiring practices: http://youarenotsosmart.com/2015/06/08/yanss-051-how-google-... Some of the claims Lazlo makes: As large organizations grow, their workforce trends towards mediocrity. Google * takes special care to counter-act this effect. * researches their hiring/interviewing practices just as much as their machine learning. * publis…
Comment linking /2015/06/08/yanss-051-how-google-uses-behavioral-science-to-make-work-suck-less/
on “Google: 90% of our engineers use the software you wrote (Homebrew), but...”Submitted The truth about procrastination as a story · 32 points
HN discussionI didn't really think so. I thought GooGoo Fanboy was apt satire myself. The hyperbole of the original poster clearly showed that he/she was already very entrenched anyway. And considering it's possible that debating someone's strongly held points with logical counter points will only irrationally strengthen the person's original beliefs anyway, I think humor was appropriate: http://youarenotsosmart.com/2011/06/10/t…
Comment linking /2011/06/10/the-backfire-effect/
on “You know, Google, the web already had this feature”Submitted Survivorship Bias as a story · 25 points
HN discussionMaybe I'm explaining it wrong, here's someone who actually understands the science explaining why happiness is not and should not be the default state of the brain: https://youarenotsosmart.com/2018/05/21/yanss-128-the-neuros...
Comment linking /2018/05/21/yanss-128-the-neuroscience-of-joy-comfort-happiness-and-bliss/
on “How to get rich without getting lucky”Submitted Fanboyism and Brand Loyalty as a story · 25 points
HN discussionI never tried the AirPods so I can't comment on their quality, though I'm all for wired ones so it won't happen anytime soon. Quality aside, psychology can explain a things or two on why people absolutely love what they spend money on. https://youarenotsosmart.com/2010/05/19/fanboyism-and-brand-...
Comment linking /2010/05/19/fanboyism-and-brand-loyalty/
on “Apple Cancels AirPower Product”Submitted The-illusion-of-asymmetric-insight as a story · 14 points
HN discussionNow, for whatever reason, nothing has effectively changed and millions suddenly care This was discussed on a You Are Not So Smart [1] episode some time over the last few months (I had a look but couldn't find it). The basic idea was that collective behaviour can change in an instant because of multiple pressures that have been building over time and looking for a single cause (or trigger) is fruitless because no one…
Comment linking /
on “WhatsApp to move ahead with privacy update despite backlash”Submitted Placebo Buttons as a story · 12 points
HN discussion>my friend was really good at Quake no, he wasnt:( he was just better than you. Reaper on default skill 1 was an ok challenge for average players. Skill 3 was a competitive against good players, but still nothing special against deathmatch veteran spending days in gaming cafes or internet servers. For reference best Quake bot, Omicron(dev went to work for ID software and wrote Quake3 AI etc) on highest skill level v…
Comment linking /2014/11/10/yanss-podcast-036-why-we-are-unaware-that-we-lack-the-skill-to-tell-how-how-unskilled-and-unaware-we-are/
on “Why F.E.A.R.’s AI is still the best in first-person shooters”Submitted Misattribution of Arousal as a story · 9 points
HN discussion> Example: a violent game can be a way to express violence of an otherwise repressed person, or some other people that is having a few bad weeks, is finding an escape playing at it. Yeah, that's not actually true. "Letting your anger out" makes you angrier. http://youarenotsosmart.com/2010/08/11/catharsis/
Comment linking /2010/08/11/catharsis/
on “Flappy Bird Creator Dong Nguyen Speaks Out”Submitted The Backfire Effect. Or: Why you can never win an argument online as a story · 9 points
HN discussionThis isn't intended as snarky but after listening to the "You Are No So Smart" podcast [1] for a few months now, seeing these sort of examples my mind immediately goes to Confirmation Bias [2] and that use of inductive reasoning like this cannot be trusted. [1] https://youarenotsosmart.com/podcast/ [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias
Comment linking /podcast/
on “Why Should I Start a Startup?”Submitted Survivorship Bias as a story · 8 points
HN discussionIf anyone is interested its episode 163: https://youarenotsosmart.com/2019/10/08/yanss-163-why-pursui...
on “The benefits of a more asynchronous workplace”Submitted Confirmation Bias as a story · 8 points
HN discussionYou are not so smart podcast did a great 3 parter on this topic. https://youarenotsosmart.com/podcast/ #93, #94, #95
Comment linking /podcast/
on “Why Facts Don't Change Our Minds”Submitted Misconception: You should study the successful if you wish to become successful as a story · 7 points
HN discussionI've struggled with this, but feel that I've made some headway in the past decade, so for what it's worth, here are my two cents (YMMV): I'd say start by conscious effort, and then eventually you can build intuition and 'empathy' in a more traditional sense (and your mirror neurons might even help you understand your own feelings better that way too, as seeing something in others might help you recognize those same…
Comment linking /
on “Ask HN: What habits make a programmer great?”Submitted The overjustification effect as a story · 7 points
HN discussionHere's a well-researched and well-phrased blog post on the Just World Fallacy that you (and grandparent post) may find interesting: https://youarenotsosmart.com/2010/06/07/the-just-world-falla...
Comment linking /2010/06/07/the-just-world-fallacy/
on “Fighting Cancer”Submitted Willpower is a finite resource as a story · 6 points
HN discussionIn addition to Connections and tDtUC, I also recommend this[1] interview, in which Burke discusses current problems related to privacy and technology, the balkanization of traditional social structures, speculation about using technology to replace important decision-making with a continuous Delphi-technique-style referendum, and social responsibility in a post-scarcity future. https://youarenotsosmart.com/transcrip…
Comment linking /transcripts/transcript-interview-with-james-burke-from-episode-020/
on “So You Want to Learn Physics”Submitted The Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy as a story · 6 points
HN discussionThere is a podcast call "You Are Not So Smart" that talks about all the ways our brain tricks us. https://youarenotsosmart.com/podcast/
Comment linking /podcast/
on “You want to know something about how bullshit insane our brains are? (2018)”Submitted How the "Anchoring effect" screws up your ability to estimate as a story · 6 points
HN discussion
