> sure you can settle for an around average outcome,
Evaluating only a single outcome and deciding whether or not it is "average" is still doing an absolute evaluation and falling into the same trap.
The actionable question is not, "How good of an outcome will I get if I do X?" It's "How will the outcome of doing X compare to the outcome of doing Y or Z instead?"
I am in absolute terms a well below average medical practitioner. I haven't even taken a first aid class since I was a Boy Scout. Imagine I'm at the scene of a car crash and someone is bleeding out. Should I help? According to the philosophy "if I can't do something well I shouldn't do it at all", I should keep my hands clean.
But if I'm the only person on the scene and they're about to die, trying a little direct pressure is better than nothing. My well-below-average in absolute terms medical care is the best choice because all of the other options are terrible.
Maybe because we tend to be perfectionists, but I often see here on HN people completely underestimating how bad the alternative outcomes can be. Like they say about self-driving cars: the robot doesn't have to be perfect, just better than a human.
You don't have to have the best solution, just the least bad one.
Evaluating only a single outcome and deciding whether or not it is "average" is still doing an absolute evaluation and falling into the same trap.
The actionable question is not, "How good of an outcome will I get if I do X?" It's "How will the outcome of doing X compare to the outcome of doing Y or Z instead?"
I am in absolute terms a well below average medical practitioner. I haven't even taken a first aid class since I was a Boy Scout. Imagine I'm at the scene of a car crash and someone is bleeding out. Should I help? According to the philosophy "if I can't do something well I shouldn't do it at all", I should keep my hands clean.
But if I'm the only person on the scene and they're about to die, trying a little direct pressure is better than nothing. My well-below-average in absolute terms medical care is the best choice because all of the other options are terrible.
Maybe because we tend to be perfectionists, but I often see here on HN people completely underestimating how bad the alternative outcomes can be. Like they say about self-driving cars: the robot doesn't have to be perfect, just better than a human.
You don't have to have the best solution, just the least bad one.