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> Individuals may be acting in their own self-interest, but civilisation is acting irrationally. Yes, individuals acting rationally is just the thing. If we lo
by Bromskloss 9y ago
> Individuals may be acting in their own self-interest, but civilisation is acting irrationally.
Yes, individuals acting rationally is just the thing. If we look closely enough at a civilisation or other group of people, it does break apart into individuals. The individuals are the ones who ultimately has the capacity to act, and has goals (a utility function) and knowledge to base their acts upon.
- mcguire 9y agoRight, individuals are the point. Local optimization, no matter how well done, may not get you to a global optimum.
- Bromskloss 9y agoAre you sure it is a matter of local versus global optima? Isn't it rather that what you refer to as the global optimum isn't the optimum for the individual actors, and that each individual benefits from deviating from it (at the expense of everyone else)?
- mcguire 9y agoThis is the tragedy of the commons viewed as an optimization problem. A global optimum provides benefits essentially perpetually, making it more valuable than the local optimums which are arrived at by each actor individually. (It does require extending the time though the actor's descendents.) Hence the old saw's insistence on "enlightened self interest".