It’s Complicated: Unraveling the mystery of why people act as they do

Re:It’s Complicated: Unraveling the mystery of why people ac... by elihu on Monday June 19, 2017 @08:03PM (#14591302)

If we assume that free will doesn't exist (which I don't agree with, but for the sake of argument we'll assume it doesn't), one might still expect people to make choices that maximize their own well-being and it isn't too much of a stretch to suppose that such choices are more often than not good for society, or at least more so than a planned society where most choices are made for you by some authority.

One can argue for democracy, free speech, and other modern liberal ideas on the basis that they produce a more stable, prosperous society.

This assumes that we've already decided that stability and prosperity are attributes that society should have.

I think science is a great tool for figuring out what the consequences of a particular action are likely to be, but it's not a tool that will tell us which of several outcomes we should prefer.

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Re:It’s Complicated: Unraveling the mystery of why people ac... by amasad on Monday June 19, 2017 @08:12PM (#14591348)

You're echoing Hume's is-ought distinction which I generally agree with.

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Re:It’s Complicated: Unraveling the mystery of why people ac... by techbio on Monday June 19, 2017 @08:26PM (#14591397)

Optimism and Hume notwithstanding the outcomes regarding prosperity and stability may be bestowed upon the society as a whole without the choices by individuals having individually assisted their own life outcomes.

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Re:It’s Complicated: Unraveling the mystery of why people ac... by skookumchuck on Monday June 19, 2017 @10:03PM (#14591727)

Societies where the choices are made by the government, not the individuals, have not bestowed prosperity and stability on the whole.

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Re:It’s Complicated: Unraveling the mystery of why people ac... by brabel on Tuesday June 20, 2017 @03:18AM (#14592737)

China seems to be a counter example to that (and the largest example in the history of mankind, with 600 million people having a prosperous life thanks to, arguably, the government making decisions on their behalf, not to mention it has been the most stable civilization on Earth despite a few periods of instability), though on the whole, you might be right. I just wouldn't claim that with nearly as much confidence as you do.

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Re:It’s Complicated: Unraveling the mystery of why people ac... by skookumchuck on Tuesday June 20, 2017 @03:40AM (#14592796)

China has free'd up quite a bit from the old centralized planning system, and the material well-being has improved quite a bit since they did.

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