To save democracy and solve the world's biggest challenges, we need to get better at spotting and exposing people who exploit human cooperation for personal
Biiiiig doubt right off the bat, but I’ll keep reading.
We can’t stop people free-riding, it’s part of our nature, the incurable syndrome… Free riders are among us … if we accept that we all have this ancient flaw… we can design policies around that and change our societies for the better.
Right, ok, I guess that makes sense. How do we fix it then?
Self-knowledge: …appearing trustworthy but being selfish can be more beneficial to the individual. We need to recognise that and make a moral choice about whether we try to use people or to work with them.
Ok, sure, for the less-selfish folks who have the capacity for self-awareness. But the more selfish folks already know this because they are exploiting it.
Education: We must teach people to think ethically for themselves, and to give them the tools to do so.
Hmm, big doubt. We’ve been trying to do this for ages in many societies. Not only has it not been a panacea, the selfish often hijack the education systems themselves.
Policy: Goodman believes that exposing free-riders is more beneficial than punishment… suggesting that journalistic work exposing exploitation can be as effective… as criminal punishment.
Ok, you lost me. Maybe the book is better, but this is garbage. I don’t care about changing behaviour, I want to stop the bleeding. Criminal punishment for the criminally sociopathic! This guy and Susan Collins can keep eachother company…
It’s pretty obvious by now that knowing someone is doing wrong is only half the battle. Or more like 10% of it. In the US there’s ridiculous healthcare costs, data brokering, tax cuts for the rich - like 90% of Americans know about these things, and yet nothing is done.
Biiiiig doubt right off the bat, but I’ll keep reading.
Right, ok, I guess that makes sense. How do we fix it then?
Ok, sure, for the less-selfish folks who have the capacity for self-awareness. But the more selfish folks already know this because they are exploiting it.
Hmm, big doubt. We’ve been trying to do this for ages in many societies. Not only has it not been a panacea, the selfish often hijack the education systems themselves.
Ok, you lost me. Maybe the book is better, but this is garbage. I don’t care about changing behaviour, I want to stop the bleeding. Criminal punishment for the criminally sociopathic! This guy and Susan Collins can keep eachother company…
It’s pretty obvious by now that knowing someone is doing wrong is only half the battle. Or more like 10% of it. In the US there’s ridiculous healthcare costs, data brokering, tax cuts for the rich - like 90% of Americans know about these things, and yet nothing is done.