The core premise is sound. It is also consistent with research popularized in Blink, which shows how quickly people make up their mind.
In practical terms, most times the proposer knows his subject more than the proposed. It takes the receiver of the information time and attention (both of which are scarce in decision makers) to deeply understand the pros and cons. So they fall back on heuristics: "Did this programmer meet their deadline last time?" "Are they wearing a suit?" "Did they go to a school I respect?"
Early in my career, I thought, "It's only the content that matters. Anyone who disagrees is an idiot." It took a while to realize there are sound psychological reasons behind the other heuristics people use to choose. It took even longer to learn the game theory behind why some of the "Who you are" matters more than the quality of the idea in question. That's much too long a post for a writer who hasn't had their first coffee.
One last thought... The Karma factor in part is a signal to judging people. (Or rewarding) Of course most of read the articles first, before looking up the credibility of the poster. :-)
In practical terms, most times the proposer knows his subject more than the proposed. It takes the receiver of the information time and attention (both of which are scarce in decision makers) to deeply understand the pros and cons. So they fall back on heuristics: "Did this programmer meet their deadline last time?" "Are they wearing a suit?" "Did they go to a school I respect?"
Early in my career, I thought, "It's only the content that matters. Anyone who disagrees is an idiot." It took a while to realize there are sound psychological reasons behind the other heuristics people use to choose. It took even longer to learn the game theory behind why some of the "Who you are" matters more than the quality of the idea in question. That's much too long a post for a writer who hasn't had their first coffee.
One last thought... The Karma factor in part is a signal to judging people. (Or rewarding) Of course most of read the articles first, before looking up the credibility of the poster. :-)