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Re:Self-driving Uber car kills Arizona woman crossing street by dang on Monday March 19, 2018 @02:45PM (#16621716)
The root problem is that that there isn't enough specific new information to slow down the discussion and make it substantial. Lacking that, people recycle the generic points. Meanwhile the story is a dramatic one, so the energy to discuss it is high. That's a double whammy: lots of energy driving the gears, but no grist to slow them down. This produces reams of commodity comments. I'm sure the story being at #1 amplifies the effect, too, so it's a triple whammy. But it doesn't make sense for the story not to be there.

When the sensational-to-informational ratio is so large, we always get this.

Re:Self-driving Uber car kills Arizona woman crossing street by JumpCrisscross on Monday March 19, 2018 @02:53PM (#16621807)
> The root problem is that that there isn't enough specific new information to slow down the discussion and make it substantial. Lacking that, people recycle the generic points.

Is there a term for this tendency? Curious to read the research on it.

Re:Self-driving Uber car kills Arizona woman crossing street by dang on Monday March 19, 2018 @02:56PM (#16621847)
It would be great to have just the right term for it, because then there would be a better chance of the community absorbing the idea, and that kind of feedback loop is the only thing that can alter behavior. So far I don't know of one. I use the distinctions 'specific vs. generic' and 'reflective vs. reflexive' in moderation discussions a lot, but those don't quite cut it.

Alan Kay pointed out that Kahnemann's slow-system vs. fast-system also applies here.

Re:Self-driving Uber car kills Arizona woman crossing street by scoggs on Monday March 19, 2018 @03:06PM (#16621984)
I hereby propose the Dang Double Whammy Effect.
Re:Self-driving Uber car kills Arizona woman crossing street by sowbug on Monday March 19, 2018 @03:09PM (#16622003)
"Bikeshedding" should cover it if there isn't a more specific term. If not, then bikeshedding will.