In this instance, someone demonstrated a virtue (I just saw them go out of their way to help a coworker)
They generally demonstrate a virtue (they never make ad hominem attacks)
Now, technically, these are really the same: even in the latter the signal is composed of individual observations. But they differ in that with the former each instance gives lots of signal (going out of your way is rare) while in the latter each instance gives very little signal (even someone pretty disagreeable is still going to spend most of their time not making ad hominem attacks).
Iâm interpreting Caroline as saying that when someone is practicing this virtue well you donât notice any individual instance of silence, and praise is generally something we do at the instance level. On the other hand, we can still notice that someone, over many opportunities, has consistently refrained from harmful speech.
I agree, though, that it isnât a very good signal because of the difficulty in reception (less legible).
Self-signaling value ainât something to sneeze at. Personally, a lot of my desire-for-demandingness is about reinforcing my identity as someone whoâs willing to make sacrifices in order to do good. (âreinforcingâ meaning both getting good at that skill, and assuring myself that thatâs what Iâm like :)
I agree itâs very valuable, but how can it be a good signal and impossible to notice at the same time?
Compare:
In this instance, someone demonstrated a virtue (I just saw them go out of their way to help a coworker)
They generally demonstrate a virtue (they never make ad hominem attacks)
Now, technically, these are really the same: even in the latter the signal is composed of individual observations. But they differ in that with the former each instance gives lots of signal (going out of your way is rare) while in the latter each instance gives very little signal (even someone pretty disagreeable is still going to spend most of their time not making ad hominem attacks).
Iâm interpreting Caroline as saying that when someone is practicing this virtue well you donât notice any individual instance of silence, and praise is generally something we do at the instance level. On the other hand, we can still notice that someone, over many opportunities, has consistently refrained from harmful speech.
I agree, though, that it isnât a very good signal because of the difficulty in reception (less legible).
Self-signaling value ainât something to sneeze at. Personally, a lot of my desire-for-demandingness is about reinforcing my identity as someone whoâs willing to make sacrifices in order to do good. (âreinforcingâ meaning both getting good at that skill, and assuring myself that thatâs what Iâm like :)