I've been thinking about "failure modes" and "overlapping systems" a lot recently. It really started with utilitarianism and Utility Monsters, which I highly re

I've been thinking about "failure modes" and "overlapping systems" a lot recently. It really started with utilitarianism and Utility Monsters, which I highly recommend looking up real quick. At first glance, objectivism makes a lot of sense: In one simple situation, how much easier is it to deal with people when they're clear and certain about what they want? But then you start to notice the ways that value system fails (it seems easy to miss how indirect aid of others helps you). That stage set - All systems have failure modes. The trick seems to be layering your systems so that the failure modes don't overlap; the failure mode of utility monster could be covered by functioning objectivism; the short-sightedness of objectivism could be covered by the broad view of patriotism, etc etc. (Not saying this particular stack works, but trying to suggest an example of what I'm getting at)