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Comment by zby | Hacker News Reader

The primary social function of giving advice is a domination game (http://www.overcomingbias.com/2015/03/advice-shows-status.ht..., http://www.overcomingbias.com/2014/01/advice-isnt-about-info...) - that's why there is a lot of shitty advice. That does not mean there are no good business theories that cover startups. Some of them are scientific theories with all the required rigour - but not all theories need to be properly scientific to be useful, in our daily life we live with lots of ex-post theories, they are not perfect but are still useful. By the way I am the author of one non-scientific startup theory myself https://medium.com/hackernoon/aggregators-bffd36063a72 and I hope it can be useful:) There are also useful advice. It is good to read them, evaluate, adjust them you your circumstances, etc. In the end you need to decide for yourself, but they show you the possibilities.

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I hate this interpretation of everything as status games. It seems like a great way to drive yourself insane and develop mental illness as you overreact to mundane situations or fail to take advice from proper authorities. I consider somebody unqualified throwing out nonsensical advice as simply kind of a moron.

To elaborate: I’m convinced that most people viewing this view status as a good or at worse neutral thing, and although they may not approve of tactics they deem immoral (maybe including this one), basically have some admiration for “winning” the game. I view this as a wrong approach. The guy giving advice all the time is blinded by pride and fails to realize even the bounds of his own competence. He’s not winning anything. My opinion is that he looks like a buffoon.

While those overcomingbias articles are nice and true they only offer a limited perspective.

http://www.overcomingbias.com/2015/03/advice-shows-status.ht... : "High-power participants in the study ignored almost two-thirds of the advice they received" - in almost any "game" (or situation that can be modeled by game theory) it may be wise to test the advice of even the best expert you are given. Maybe ignoring advice isn't irrational but actually optimal in order to truly learn or even advance on the current optimal solution to any given situation and maybe the high-powered participants intuitively know this and that's why they're high-powered in the first place.

http://www.overcomingbias.com/2014/01/advice-isnt-about-info... : advice giving and receiving is based on respect but it also builds trust and connection. Why would I build trust with someone who is getting out of the game when I can get advice from any number of people in the game which have similar amounts of wisdom and experience? I get the wisdom and I have a better chance of getting good opportunities from the person in the game whereas I can only get wisdom from the retiree.

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