> most people

I'm aware that social trust in some places is lower than others (and that im lucky enough to live in a place with high social trust), but I really don't think this is true. Though ruthless optimisers do exist, my experience suggests the idea that most people do this is laughable. I'd guess 1% or thereabouts. I think most people are kinda bumbling along on autopilot trying to make people happy and avoid others getting too mad at them without expending too much effort(not the same as minimizing effort) + without deviating too much from their routine.

Meditate a while, if you will, on the results of this poll: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn0njd4e2evo

I met a few of the ruthless optimiser types back when I was in the startup world. They aren't too bad if you can keep them at arms length, predictable in their own way. But if they get some power over you or you have to spend a lot of time with them it can quickly become miserable.

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xboxnolifes 12 hours ago | parent | next [-]

While I agree with your main point, I'm not sure what the article has to do with it. It's sounds more like a poll on how much debt or bills the responder currently has to deal with.

	▲	RugnirViking 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		the post I was replying to boiled down people's decisions as "What is the risk of getting caught and is it worth risking?" I was linking it to mention that many (most?) people's mental model of risk is extremely conservative. They would forego an expected value 10x reward just for predictability/certainty. Similarly, I believe people weigh the "risk of getting caught" extremely highly in their heads. Far higher than it makes sense to from a purely game theoretic perspective. However, this is probably a good thing. I like such people.

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carlosjobim 13 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

People even plan their pregnancies around government benefits and maternity leave regulations. The mass machine man is the norm.