Current Events > Is there a term for this social/psychological phenomenon, re: enthusiasts

(+) Yeah! (+)

Ever notice how people who are enthusiasts in a hobby - any hobby - have a really poor understanding of how much you - a layperson outside of that hobby - simply don't give a shit, and how much they overestimate the effort/time/money you are prepared to consider reasonable? It's like there's a really big gulf between what you consider normal and what they consider normal behaviour in regards to that special interest, and there's not much understanding between either group of how the other person sees it.

A few examples:

• You're not someone who typically exercises but you decide you want to lose a few pounds, so you do some research. You go to a fitness advice forum and you're overwhelmed by people telling you to completely change your diet and start dedicated 3-5 hours a week on consistent rigorous training, keep an exercise log, count your calories and macronutrients...
• You want a new watch - just something that you think looks nice and tells the time - you speak to some people who know about watches and the cheapest option they give you starts at $300 "for something really basic". They talk a lot about brands to avoid if you don't want to look like everyone else, although you can't remember ever once taking note of how regular someone else's watch looks
• You want to go camping and you speak to people who go camping a lot for advice and walk away with the impression that you're going to need to spend literally thousands of dollars to get started

And then from the other side of the fence, maybe you don't understand how someone thinks what you're doing is a big deal because it's so simple and cost-effective from your perspective.

• You don't understand why anyone would spend $500 for a games console when they could build a PC for around that and get extra functionality etc.
• Maybe you like car detailing and you have no idea why someone would want to damage their paint work by taking it through an automatic car wash or washing it with a dish scourer...

no?

"Enthusiasts with large disposable incomes".

i just assume im built different or havent found something i can be passionate about

Vampire_Chicken posted...

"Enthusiasts with large disposable incomes".

I'm wondering if there's an actual name to the phenomena, like "dunning-kruger effect" or similar

Nah, I see what he's getting at: the kind of people who think you're somehow an idiot or crazy for not throwing your life or shitloads of your money into what they like, the way they do. "You're doing it all wrong! This is what you need to do..."

I too dislike when friends share their interests with me.

xGhostchantx posted...

I too dislike when friends share their interests with me.

annoying isnt it

It's very similar to a purity spiral.

You don't understand why anyone would spend $500 for a games console when they could build a PC for around that and get extra functionality etc.

Not even close to the same thing.

pinky0926 posted...

You don't understand why anyone would spend $500 for a games console when they could build a PC for around that

We'd spend more like $1500 but it would be worth it because it would last at least two console cycles with minor upgrades, and play ALL the games.

sfcalimari posted...

We'd spend more like $1500 but it would be worth it because it would last at least two console cycles with minor upgrades, and play ALL the games.

*if you are a games enthusiast

I just filter out what I can based on my own needs. But it is def annoying when you are researching an Amazon product or something and you basically have a PhD on the subject by the end of it because of all the mixed reviews on everything. I think you were the one who may have said something similar some time ago

I believe it's confirmation bias at play. Let me explain.

People don't have limitless mental capacity. When we make judgment, it's mentally tiring to evaluate every single thing every single time. So we set up some short of mental shortcut to help us evaluate things. But this shortcut by nature is prone to error & bias. We call this cognitive bias. For example, the mentioned Dunning-Kruger effect is a type of cognitive bias where we overestimate our own abilities.

Confirmation bias is a type of cognitive bias where we favor information that reinforces our belief. Because of this the exact same story can be interpreted differently by people.

A = We need <$1,000 for gaming rig (cheap club)
B = We need >$3,000 for gaming rig (expensive club)

B says "I have $4,000 gaming rig. I can play game X at 4K / Ultra / 120fps"

1. B (expensive club) mentally focus on 'game X at 4K / Ultra / 120fps'. From B's point of view that $4,000 rig is perfect.
2. On the other hand A (cheap club) mentally focus on '$4,000 to play game X' instead. They know they can play X on cheaper rig. From A's point of view that $4,000 rig is a waste of money.

As you can use, the exact same story about B's gaming rig can be perceived differently by B and A because they favor different piece of information (that aligns with their initial belief). That leads to...
pinky0926 posted...

there's not much understanding between either group of how the other person sees it.

fakefire posted...

I just filter out what I can based on my own needs. But it is def annoying when you are researching an Amazon product or something and you basically have a PhD on the subject by the end of it because of all the mixed reviews on everything. I think you were the one who may have said something similar some time ago

I'm completely incapable of just buying a thing I like. I need to research it as much as possible to find out if it's the thing I want or if I need a slightly different version. Sometimes this works out well, a lot of the time it just creates a lot of unnecessary stress.

thisworld posted...

I believe it's confirmation bias at play. Let me explain.

People don't have limitless mental capacity. When we make judgment, it's mentally tiring to evaluate every single thing every single time. So we set up some short of mental shortcut to help us evaluate things. But this shortcut by nature is prone to error & bias. We call this cognitive bias. For example, the mentioned Dunning-Kruger effect is a type of cognitive bias where we overestimate our own abilities.

Confirmation bias is a type of cognitive bias where we favor information that reinforces our belief. Because of this the exact same story can be interpreted differently by people.

A = We need <$1,000 for gaming rig (cheap club)
B = We need >$3,000 for gaming rig (expensive club)

B says "I have $4,000 gaming rig. I can play game X at 4K / Ultra / 120fps"
1. B (expensive club) mentally focus on 'game X at 4K / Ultra / 120fps'. From B's point of view that $4,000 rig is perfect.
2. On the other hand A (cheap club) mentally focus on '$4,000 to play game X' instead. They know they can play X on cheaper rig. From A's point of view that $4,000 rig is a waste of money.
As you can use, the exact same story about B's gaming rig can be perceived differently by B and A because they favor different piece of information (that aligns with their initial belief). That leads to...

Good post. It does seem like a sort of confirmation bias.

Ooh may have found it - look up expertise bias, or "the curse of knowledge".