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Human beliefs sure are weird. Why is it so difficult to get audiophiles to accept the existence of perceptual bias?
- Thread starter Zerimas
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Fantastic book i recommend it to everyone
Another i find resonated more for me than Fast and Slow is Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Dont Have All the Facts by Annie Duke
Now, that makes you part of a special minority, and in the excellent company of one Linus TorvaldsFinland, not Norway. Oh, and my first language is Swedish.
. Happy?
mhardy6647
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Now, that makes you part of a special minority, and in the excellent company of one Linus Torvalds
More than happy, don't get me started on my Linus stories (yes, of course we knew each other back in the day - it is a small country, after all
).
Certainly not normal even though, IMO it is rational.
What is the cognitive bias where people think they are not subject to cognitive biases? I can't remember the name of it.
Delusion.
mhardy6647
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Folie à deux
In the audiophile world, also some grandiose behavior mixed in.
I might be delusional, and suffer from that hypothetical perceptual bias, hypothetically of course, but I refuse to be grandiose (somebody will tell me that's possibly delusional). Friends, you have convinced me. I do indeed suffer from PB, and it can be very expensive! What can be done for me? is a daily dose of ASR the answer?
I accept perceptual bias and I also understand that the measurements here are largely academic. However, there is an implicit assumption that there is something beneficial in buying / owning / using hifi equipment that measures well, but crucially this is not improved sound quality. Presumably this benefit manifests itself in perceptual bias in terms of “my hifi kit measures well so I believe that it [insert here].
When reviewing speakers however, sound quality is commented on, even though this is susceptible to perceptual bias because the measurements have been taken beforehand, i.e. I have measured a peak at 4khz, therefore it sounds a bit harsh.
This site needs to address some of the issues it has raised:
Does hifi equipment that measures better sound better?
Equipment that has been subjectively assessed as sounding good for the past 30 years - does it actually sound good or has it all just been a hoax?
If the answer is “no” to either, is it possible to measure the characteristics of stuff that sounds good?
Finally, if it is not possible to answer any of these questions, shouldn’t this be made clear so that readers don’t make foolish buying decisions (or sending Anthem or Nad AVRs back to retailers because they measure marginally inferior!)?
When reviewing speakers however, sound quality is commented on, even though this is susceptible to perceptual bias because the measurements have been taken beforehand, i.e. I have measured a peak at 4khz, therefore it sounds a bit harsh.
This site needs to address some of the issues it has raised:
Does hifi equipment that measures better sound better?
Equipment that has been subjectively assessed as sounding good for the past 30 years - does it actually sound good or has it all just been a hoax?
If the answer is “no” to either, is it possible to measure the characteristics of stuff that sounds good?
Finally, if it is not possible to answer any of these questions, shouldn’t this be made clear so that readers don’t make foolish buying decisions (or sending Anthem or Nad AVRs back to retailers because they measure marginally inferior!)?
mhardy6647
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For the record: I think I suffer from climbacophobia -- the fear of
Lucy Van Pelt diagnosed that one for me when I was a wee lad -- and they act like telemedicine is a new thing...
ahem
Yes/no/maybe, depending on person, mood, weather and degree of intoxication.
Does a picture taken with a soft focus lens or pink color filter look better than one that is neutral? Maybe. Depends on the situation.
What we have is the definition of Hi-Fi ("High Fidelity") as just that - fidelity. Accurate reproduction of original signal, without noise, distortion or coloration.
Controlled (blind) testing is the cure. It doesn't work instantaneously, but the more you try to validate what your brain is telling you are such obvious, huge differences, the less you will suffer from PB-related financial symptoms.
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