mwengler comments on How big of an impact would cleaner political debates have on society? - Less Wrong

4 Post author: adamzerner 06 February 2014 12:24AM

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Comment author: mwengler 07 February 2014 11:51:16AM -1 points [-]

I would much rather have candidates take IQ and general knowledge tests than participate in honest debates

Sure you would. And if even a significant minority of the electorate agreed with you, you might see something like that happen.

what I would like to see is a DNA analysis of Presidential candidates to identify those with genes predisposing them to being sociopaths.

Would you vote for the more sociopathic or the less? I'm pretty sure in a competition between societies the last thing you want in a leader is someone who constrains how your team competes, especially if the other team is not so constrained. And given the competitive nature of the world, there will be teams out there that are barely or unconstrained.

Comment author: ThisSpaceAvailable 08 February 2014 06:41:12AM 2 points [-]

This sort of argument doesn't make sense to me. If I'm operating purely on self-interest, the rational thing to do is to not bother voting. If I'm motivated by altruism, why should I give preference to people who live in the same country as me over people who live in another country?