> being tall, having a deep voice, being confident
these are subcategories of being attractive, or entangled dimensions at the very least
> if you're successful without these advantages you're probably better
marginally better at the specific task at hand, which in most professions can be counterbalanced by being attractive
for example take two engineers, they have equal interpersonal skills but one is more skilled and less attractive than the other. The less skilled engineer may still have higher throughput as a result being better able to manage up, despite having the same interpersonal skills, simply because of their attractiveness bonus. I think you're really underestimating the effect size, I think it's large enough to be significant in most work.
> these are subcategories of being attractive, or entangled dimensions at the very least
absolutely not true, they're often about being dominant or authoritative. phone work is a perfect example where people trust you more if you have a deeper voice because you're seen as more authoritative.
Men with hair are considered more attractive, balding men are considered more authoritative because most men in positions of authority are older and balding.
Here, let me reply to your made-up situation with my own made-up situation.
What if one engineer was good looking and gay and slept his way to the top and another engineer was ugly but good.
who will continue rising faster? The gay slut, duh. therefore everyone should endeavor to be a gay slut despite _THIS CONVERSATION_ being about engineering skill.
these are subcategories of being attractive, or entangled dimensions at the very least
> if you're successful without these advantages you're probably better
marginally better at the specific task at hand, which in most professions can be counterbalanced by being attractive
for example take two engineers, they have equal interpersonal skills but one is more skilled and less attractive than the other. The less skilled engineer may still have higher throughput as a result being better able to manage up, despite having the same interpersonal skills, simply because of their attractiveness bonus. I think you're really underestimating the effect size, I think it's large enough to be significant in most work.