Music Taste Game Theory
People make statements all the time about which music they like and why they like it.
Some of these statements will be false.
Is there any advantage to trying to guess which, or in assuming that certain people or groups are lying? Rather than simply assuming good faith?
(NB: I’m not talking about assuming someone’s honest but also thinking them immensely stupid to like what they like. Just assuming that they’re either lying about liking it, or about their motivation.)
Isn’t there a bit of this game theory attached to every conversation? The more personal the subject, the more stingily you dole out accurate information about yourself. This is why I enjoy critics as artists who, by my definition, do in public what us normals do in private. When it comes to civilians, it’s often not even lying so much as it’s the whole reveal/conceal dance that plays a role in most interactions (at the very least all of the bonding sort).
Plus, are anyone’s tastes describable even when you try to make an honest effort? (The only things I can say with a p value greater than .06 is that I like men’s voices, descending base lines, counterpoint and hand claps.) I don’t know if I could even say that I like Bowie, given the many songs of his I dislike. Instead of lying, these could just be attempts to bring relevant things to whatever conversation you’re having and an attempt to discuss an unfathomable thing in some sort of orderly way?
