When I saw the title, I thought the article was going to be about a general default of uncertainty--people really not making assumptions when they don't have information. This would probably have all sorts of implications, but I'm having trouble with unpacking them.
For a starter, you probably couldn't use clothing to convey much except whether you're interested in how you dress. No one would believe that business suit = reliability.
Either that, or clothing could be used to signify what you were planning to do then: a business suit means you're going to spend the day on business, certain sorts of dress-up mean party, jeans and boots might mean "I'm planning on doing physical labor", a uniform would mean "I'm working at this restaurant/banquet/store right now" (which it mostly already does). I wonder what the "hi, just going about an ordinary day" (which might include a visit to the doctor, reading a book, cooking, what-have-you) clothing would be like.
Afaik, the reason a bueiness suit is a plausible indicator of "I'm planning to do business" is that enough people think it signifies orderliness and reliability. However, everyone from Enron was wearing a business suit. They were assuredly spending their time on business, but they weren't exactly intending what most people thought they were signalling.
(no subject)
When I saw the title, I thought the article was going to be about a general default of uncertainty--people really not making assumptions when they don't have information. This would probably have all sorts of implications, but I'm having trouble with unpacking them.
For a starter, you probably couldn't use clothing to convey much except whether you're interested in how you dress. No one would believe that business suit = reliability.
Re:
Re:
Afaik, the reason a bueiness suit is a plausible indicator of "I'm planning to do business" is that enough people think it signifies orderliness and reliability. However, everyone from Enron was wearing a business suit. They were assuredly spending their time on business, but they weren't exactly intending what most people thought they were signalling.