Definition of a "fair split" varies across cultures

[fhdz]

What is interesting about all this is how easy it is to case the actions of person B as being immoral either way, as a response to the crappy offer.

If he refuses the offer, he is being spiteful. If he accepts the offer, he is being complicit and selfish.

It is an interesting illustration of the overall quandary of how to respond to an actively corrupt person - it is much easier if person A just makes a "fair" offer to begin with!

The offerer definitely sets the tone. I wonder in what cultures would the offerer say "here, you take 80% and I'll take 20%"?

[Berkut]

What is interesting about all this is how easy it is to case the actions of person B as being immoral either way, as a response to the crappy offer.

If he refuses the offer, he is being spiteful. If he accepts the offer, he is being complicit and selfish.

It is an interesting illustration of the overall quandary of how to respond to an actively corrupt person - it is much easier if person A just makes a "fair" offer to begin with!

The offerer definitely sets the tone. I wonder in what cultures would the offerer say "here, you take 80% and I'll take 20%"?

You didn't read the entire article!

[alfred russel]

I would be very interested in seeing a paper that showed that logical syllogisms are not universal, as opposed to showing that understanding or value of logical syllogisms is not universal. That may sound ethnocentric especially in light of this article, but differing behaviors across cultures is one thing, differing truth values is another. One of the main premises of logic is that it has a truth value independent of perception or understanding.

It is not that the venn diagram nature of logic isn't universal, but determining that through deduction is not universal.  I know of no culture that would not agree "sow pigs are sows", but in the formulation I gave above there would need to be an example seen to draw a conclusion.  The best some groups do is give maybes.

To what extent is the difference between ignorance and cultural difference defined?

Knowing that A=C if A=B and B=C seems more like something I learned in the 5th grade while another child was learning not to stick your hand in the log where the viper lives.

[Cecil]

Very interesting indeed. Thank you for sharing that. 

[PDH]

Maybe it's quibbling over terminology, but what I'm getting from what you're saying is that different cultures differently value different kinds of truth, or more accurately, different means of arriving at the truth.

There is logical truth, highly valued in western society for its contributions to science. It works very well with things that can be given mathematical values.

But there are other means: observation(seeing is believing), consensus(10 million people can't be wrong) and probably others. I have no trouble believing that some societies hold these other methods of more value than logic--hell, I come from such a society. To me that is different than saying that the logical syllogism aren't universal, however.

I think it is quibbling.  The article/book if I remember it properly, stated that the syllogism in the venn diagram way of looking at it is universal.  I believe every culture would agree that every cow is not a milk cow.  However, it is the problem of deduction that seems to be tripping us up here - many cultures do not seem to accept the given.  It is not the petulant third grader arguing, it is just that the variance of the set is enough to demand the logician to review the example in order to draw a conclusion.

Hopefully that might be a bit more clear.

[PDH]

To what extent is the difference between ignorance and cultural difference defined?

Knowing that A=C if A=B and B=C seems more like something I learned in the 5th grade while another child was learning not to stick your hand in the log where the viper lives.

Actually, ignorance was the usual definition given as to why people didn't accept the basic A=b, B=C, therefore A=C idea; later looks at how the brain processed this squelched the idea as the brain was processing things more or less the same way with different outcomes. 

The problem comes in viewing the world.  The sets are large enough there is variance, which we allow in each set and do not count as problematic.  The "if, and, or" problem does not exist here, as it is explained away.  However, those "quibbling" terms have different effects in different cultures.  To simply explain a set of friends as wearing hats is nonsense to those groups - as the possibilities of when they might not wear that hat is is as important as when they do.  Thus, the logical aspect is tempered by the reality of needing to actually know/see that person at the time.

[PDH]

To what extent is the difference between ignorance and cultural difference defined?

Knowing that A=C if A=B and B=C seems more like something I learned in the 5th grade while another child was learning not to stick your hand in the log where the viper lives.

What if the viper is away and there is a gold coin there instead?  Do you not stick your hand in then?

[alfred russel]

To what extent is the difference between ignorance and cultural difference defined?

Knowing that A=C if A=B and B=C seems more like something I learned in the 5th grade while another child was learning not to stick your hand in the log where the viper lives.

What if the viper is away and there is a gold coin there instead?  Do you not stick your hand in then?

If I'm near a log where a viper lives, I'm going to do what my guide tells me, and I'm guessing he won't give me the heads up on the free gold in a log.

[PDH]

To what extent is the difference between ignorance and cultural difference defined?

Knowing that A=C if A=B and B=C seems more like something I learned in the 5th grade while another child was learning not to stick your hand in the log where the viper lives.

What if the viper is away and there is a gold coin there instead?  Do you not stick your hand in then?

If I'm near a log where a viper lives, I'm going to do what my guide tells me, and I'm guessing he won't give me the heads up on the free gold in a log.

Good choice, but are your going to look and see if there is a viper or a coin in there?

[garbon]

I was not aware my culture was so radically different than people in New Hampshire though.

Texas compared to civilized America? Yeah it is different.

[PDH]

I was not aware my culture was so radically different than people in New Hampshire though.

Texas compared to civilized America? Yeah it is different.

Have to agree with the Indian here.  Texas was way more scary than going to Budapest.

[garbon]

Thus, the logical aspect is tempered by the reality of needing to actually know/see that person at the time.

Seems like if everything has to be observational, things are going to have to go slowly.

Also, does that then suggest that western culture's tradition of moving away simply from that which can be observed isn't so much progress but just moving towards a different form of reasoning that was useful for the participants in that culture?

[Razgovory]

It's not really clear what the hell they are testing then.  If it's suppose to test intelligence in suburban American from the North East but fails to do that for every other person, is it really measuring intelligence at all?

They are testing the subject's ability to perform the tasks on the IQ test relative to other subjects.  I don't think anybody is claiming they are the prophet of testing and their IQ test is 100% perfect.  If that is the litmus than you cannot test anything.

But even in your case it is useful to measuring the comparative IQs, at least as measured by the test, of northeast suburban Americans.  I was not aware my culture was so radically different than people in New Hampshire though.

The question is are they actually testing intelligence?  It would seem to me they are more likely testing how in sync you are with the cultural norm.  IQ tests often vary measurably amongst different groups in the same culture.  The only thing they measure for certain is how well a person is at taking IQ tests.

[alfred russel]

To what extent is the difference between ignorance and cultural difference defined?

Knowing that A=C if A=B and B=C seems more like something I learned in the 5th grade while another child was learning not to stick your hand in the log where the viper lives.

What if the viper is away and there is a gold coin there instead?  Do you not stick your hand in then?

If I'm near a log where a viper lives, I'm going to do what my guide tells me, and I'm guessing he won't give me the heads up on the free gold in a log.

Good choice, but are your going to look and see if there is a viper or a coin in there?

Maybe I cautiously poke around with a stick.

I'm not sure where you are going with this...

[Razgovory]

This also the reason why IQ tests are useless.

Wouldn't they be useful if the subjects are all in basically the same culture?  Anyway they are not perfect but a lack of perfection is not the same as uselessness.

Yeah, one of my biggest problems with liberals is their selective absolutism.  They're great fans of subtlety, but when conclusions get uncomfortable, they demand algebraic precision from statistics.

I realized that IQ tests were useless when I found out that scored abnormally high one.