"It's a weird decision problem. It's not like choosing between Coke and Pepsi. It's like choosing between Coke and Cheeseburgers. Which isn't as bad as choosing between Coke and Playing Frisbee or between Coke and Paisley, but still--"
"Why don't you just say it's like apples and oranges?"
"Because apples and oranges aren't really 'like apples and oranges.' They're both fruit. They have a big bowl of fruit for sale at the cafeteria that has both apples and oranges. That's a regular choice that people make all the time."
6 comments:
That's pretty awesome. Now I desperately want to find a situation in which I can use the phrase "that's like choosing between coke and paisley." Of course without the coke v. pepsi context it's unclear whether one means Cocoa-Cola or cocaine, but I think it pretty much works either way.
My hunch is that a conversation like this could very well follow interviews for the RWJ postdoc - i mean as a sociologist who was "competing" against folks from communications, history, epidemiology, nuero-science, and medicine (and those are just the ones that i remember), i couldn't help but think along these very lines. i even used a similar line in describing the process to someone on the phone after returning from an interview. Though i think i went with "comparing apples and license plates."
I would fear that "like comparing Coke and Paisley" would just result in someone saying, "You mean Pepsi, don't you?" and sidetracking the whole discussion.
But they do indeed have a strong point, if you assume different neuroprocesses for similar and unlike items.
Do you have any idea what the things they were comparing were?
Anons: No comment.
That is awesome. My friends and I used to play a game like this all the time. Half the game was coming up with improbable choices (either two really bad things or two nice things no one has ever been forced to choose between before). The other half of the game was choosing. Somehow that was hours of fun. The first way is kind of like an expanded version of the game where someone is like, "you're on a couch between Karl Rove and your first cousin, who do you make out with?" The second way - coke and paisley comparisons - is way harder for both players. Although in this case, if forced to choose between a world without Coca-Cola and a world without paisley, I'd take the paisley (so long as Pepsi remains an option).
Post a Comment