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It's almost like you need unaffiliated third parties to rank people on their good qualities.

"Are you humble?"

"Oh yes, definitely, I'm one of the most humble people I know"

"Are you a good person?"

"Oh yes, one of the best"

vs.

"How humble would you say your co-worker is?"

"Hmm, in my opinion probably average humility. I've never seen them do anything that made me think they were especially humble."

"Would you say your co-worker is a good person?"

"Hard to tell. They don't particularly stand out as being especially good."




That's subject to a lot of well-known social biases, for example the fact that more attractive people are perceived to be smarter and better-intentioned.


But am I even more biased toward myself is the question. I would answer yes.

People may be biased toward me based on my looks, but I am way more biased toward myself by comparison.


It seems like being human is a messy affair, and one particularly hard to sort out.




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