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Manfred comments on Rationality Quotes: May 2011 - Less Wrong Discussion

3 Post author: CronoDAS 02 May 2011 02:33AM

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Comment author: Manfred 04 May 2011 05:32:29PM *  2 points [-]

It's true that both prices and policies are unlikely to be changed by individual efforts if everyone has perfect information and is perfectly rational. We don't live in that world, though. Both prices and policies are often far out of equilibrium. This quote is witty, but at the cost of being entirely wrong.

Comment author: Kutta 05 May 2011 12:16:26PM *  2 points [-]

The quote - as in the context of the source - hasn't much to do with perfect rationality or perfect market considerations. Supply and demand of policies undeniably influence policymaking regardless of the actors' rationality, in a political environment like the US. Patri Friedman's point was that if you support a policy that cuts against the grain of mainstream (libertarianism in his case) it is ineffective to engage in the usual lobbying behavior.

In a nutshell, it's not that policies are already perfect, but that policies are already set by people other than you.

Comment author: Manfred 05 May 2011 06:11:12PM 2 points [-]

Oh, yeah, reading the context, that makes a bit more sense. Although people trying to get specific policies implemented is a very important part of our political ecosystem, he's not satisfied with "incremental increases in freedom" and recognizes that agitation (and, more importantly, the U.S. democracy) is not going to give him radical changes. The impression that agitation flat out doesn't work is just an emotional argument for the real ideas.