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DeVliegendeHollander comments on Social prerequisites of rationality - Less Wrong Discussion

-5 [deleted] 24 March 2015 12:33PM

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Comment author: [deleted] 26 March 2015 08:29:50AM 0 points [-]

OK, reformulating: for all those people why is power problematic ? Why would Viliam think it can be still crushing when wielded politely? (You are not Viliam, obviously, and I am not asking you to explain someone else's thoughts, I am just trying to illustrate my point.)

I mean, suppose Romeo and John manages to get MealSquares into every grocery store in the world. That fits this definition of power, but why would that bother anyone who is not a competitor (or perhaps a customer who dislike his favorite foods losing shelf space, but this is not exactly zero-sum, if a small number of people want a product really strongly, that is sort of an ideal setup for a webshop, they will probably not lose their supply).

Comment author: Lumifer 26 March 2015 02:26:46PM 1 point [-]

for all those people why is power problematic ?

I don't understand the question. Why is somebody else's power problematic for an individual? Because of safety, status, and competition. Why is power problematic socially? Well, there is a lot of literature written on the topic and I'm sure you're aware of it.