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0 pointsmlthoughts20185y ago0 comments

Why do so many social science researchers publish research and write books on widespread ways in which people act against their own self-intetest?

Like topics from Predictably Irrational, Irrational Exuberance, The Winner’s Curse, Moral Mazes, Thinking Fast and Slow, countless articles on LessWrong sequence on cognitive biases and heuristics, research on Last Place aversion, etc.?

Your comment seems to presume a textbook definition of rational self interest actually describes the behavior of living organisms, but it profoundly does not.

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missedthecue5y ago

Those are ways in which people acting in their own rational self interest create a situation in which they are all worse off as a result. This is called a market failure, and there are plenty of examples where this happens (for instance, why voting seldom produces the best possible candidate, or why armies run away).

Remember, someone acting in their own rational self interest does not mean they will never experience deleterious consequences. It simply means people will take actions they think will result in the best const/benefit for them.

mlthoughts2018OP5y ago

I’m sorry but you are not engaging. You’re basically creating a No True Scotsman fallacy out of what “is” acting in self-interest, almost verging on a tautology.

The research is clear that even when confronted with proof their actions will not result in the outcome that people self-identify as the outcome they desire, they nonetheless knowingly engage in behavior that makes them worse off (under their own preferences and utility) than other options available to them.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

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missedthecue5y ago

mlthoughts2018OP5y ago

I’m sorry but you are not engaging. You’re basically creating a No True Scotsman fallacy out of what “is” acting in self-interest, almost verging on a tautology.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse