So, this isn’t your usual blogstring post. It’s not about a beta. It’s not about a brand new, shiny social network. It’s not even about the web at all. It’s a thought experiment. And I want to know what you think. So let’s pretend for a minute. Here goes.
You’re single, and you just moved to a new place. It’s in a completely different part of the world, but that doesn’t really matter. It’s a great place, and you’ve got a great new job. There’s only one big difference.
Being single, you start to notice that the only other single people are ridiculously good looking. Gorgeous. Then you start to realize that the standard of beauty in this place is completely the opposite of what you’re used to. The types of people that were considered beautiful in your previous home are seen as hideous here. Those you find unattractive are considered stunning.
With that said, you have an abundance of beautiful-to-you people to date.
So, on the positive side, you have no competition for those you find beautiful. On the surface, this sounds great. But on the other hand, you are a social person. Even though you know that the attractive-to-you person is incredibly good looking, the rest of society will look at you in disgust.
With all the information given, would you:
1. Date attractive-to-you people and try to ignore society’s judgement
2. Try to learn to like those that you find unattractive, but society finds beautiful
3. Really have no idea whether you value "what-you-like-yourself" over what has been deemed socially valuable
To me, the answer is three. When I try to think about the things I like (music, movies, books, sporting events, etc.), I like to fool myself into thinking that my personal preferences are mine alone, and are not influenced by what I think would be socially acceptable. But when I go looking for something new, I almost always filter by popularity. I listen to movie reviews and immediately pass judgement on movies without seeing them (even though I know I won’t like the kind of movies they’ll give high ratings).
How much of the decision to like something depends on how we predict other people will perceive us?