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by devbent 915 days ago
Paying someone to fill out taxes is an example of this, so is using a financial advisor to plan a retirement portfolio.

Heck I wanted to replace a dozen light switches awhile back. Could I do it myself? Sure. Did I pay someone else to do it? Yes.
4 comments
connicpu 915 days ago
If I paid someone to replace my light switches for me I don't think that would be pretending I don't understand how to do it, I'm just recognizing that it's a LOT of work and I have better things I'd rather do with my time, so I'm buying someone else's time with money. And I really get that now, as a few weeks ago I spent like 4 hours just replacing a half dozen lightswitches, while a professional probably would've had it done in under an hour.
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devbent 915 days ago
I don't go up to an electrician and say "hey I could totally do this but you do it instead."

Instead I hand them a big box of switches.

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slingnow 915 days ago
Why would anyone go up to an electrician and say that? Paying them money, at the very least, conveys "I don't want to learn how to do this or spend time doing this."

What point are you trying to make exactly? Paying someone for services has absolutely nothing to do with manipulation or deception.

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eikenberry 915 days ago
Did you lie to them in the process? The story is not just about having someone else do the work that you could do, it is about lying to them to get them to do it instead of teaching you. Ie. just asking for the fish when they want to teach you how to fish.
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OkayPhysicist 915 days ago
I disagree. My paying someone else to do something that I don't care to is simple arbitrage: I value both having a new outlet for charging my car and the time I'd spend installing one more than the electrician values the time they'd spend installing it.

I don't have to pretend to be an idiot for this transaction to be efficient. Learned helplessness is a manipulation technique used to fudge the numbers when the value gap is very small: by adding the good feeling of helping someone in need to the mark's side, you create an efficiency where none existed.

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jagrsw 915 days ago
Are you trying to be 'technically correct' here? :)
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