seanwelsh77 comments on Privileging the Question - Less Wrong

102 Post author: Qiaochu_Yuan 29 April 2013 06:30PM

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Comment author: seanwelsh77 01 May 2013 08:52:46AM 1 point [-]

Probably the most important question that can be asked in politics is "how can we produce a perfect society in every which way according to the following list of criteria...."

The kind of questions pols actually think about. (I used to work for one...)

  1. How do I get re-elected?
  2. Which event/announcement relating to the party platform (the list of 'improve society' criteria that the party has approved) will get airtime and make me look good and my opponent in the next race look bad?
  3. Within the current budget what money can I win for my electorate through the normal processes?
  4. Who can I help within the limits of my power and influence and the laws and budget as they are?
  5. What changes to the current party platform (the list of criteria) do we need to make to achieve 1.

Different pols are more or less diligent about these points.

So long as the people can SACK pols. I.e. vote them out. Democratic politics seems to work tolerably well...

Comment author: Jiro 01 May 2013 03:26:52PM 2 points [-]

My point was that "the most important question" doesn't mean "the question which, if answered and implemented, would lead to the biggest benefit". The feasibility of answering and implementing is, for most of us, part of what makes a question an important question.

The original post seems to have been saying that "privileged" questions are not really important. I think that, when analyzed with a definition that is closer to what we mean by "important", they are.

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