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I also have a stubbornness gene in me that encourages me to spitefully resist all attempts to meddle in my lifestyle by sanctimonious blowhards that couldn't ca

I also have a stubbornness gene in me that encourages me to spitefully resist all attempts to meddle in my lifestyle by sanctimonious blowhards that couldn't care less about my actual well being. The last contact I had with such a voluntary insurance program, it consisted entirely of the insured calling in to a call center, to have someone nag them to create health goals and then nag more to make progress. No thanks; I'm already married. I could have just blathed my way through to collect the cash reward at the end, but I decided I didn't want to feed that system with my attention, and opted out. Later iterations haven't seemed any better, and I too fear the "voluntary" -> "economically enforced" -> "mandatory" progression. If you want me to walk 10k steps every day, the cash reward might be enough to reflect the lower claims paid out to frequent walkers, but it won't even begin to cover the excess cortisol, expressed because I can't stand the thought of my insurance company electronically monitoring my every move and judging me based on how much I can manage. (Genealogical anecdotes suggest the stubbornness is Scottish in origin. The "go boil your head" temperament is strongly associated with a specific family name, traceable back to Edinburgh.)

Jill_the_Pill 9y ago
Oh, I thought that gene was Irish. Best way to get me to do something is to forbid it. I started flossing the day they stopped recommending it.
- logfromblammo 9y ago
  Could be both. I have some Irish ancestors, too, and in the same subtree as the Scots. I have a reverse psychology detector, though, so if you forbid something in an attempt to get me to do it, I'm then more likely to be stubbornly obedient in whatever way I have determined would punish you most for attempting to deceive me. Nagging me about something I was already planning to do is the worst, though, because that means I have to delay doing it until it is apparent I'm not doing it just because you told me to.
ryandrake 9y ago
I don’t have much to add but I’d like to point out that you can see that "voluntary" -> "economically enforced" -> "mandatory" progression pattern in other areas too, not just in insurance. Look at those electronic toll tags that used to be voluntary. Then you got a “discount“ for using them. Now there are lanes you can’t use without them. Credit cards are going down this path, with the big push towards a “cashless” society. Introduce some thing that not everyone wants, then incentivize it’s use, then punish it’s non-use.

Jill_the_Pill 9y ago

Oh, I thought that gene was Irish. Best way to get me to do something is to forbid it. I started flossing the day they stopped recommending it.

logfromblammo 9y ago
Could be both. I have some Irish ancestors, too, and in the same subtree as the Scots. I have a reverse psychology detector, though, so if you forbid something in an attempt to get me to do it, I'm then more likely to be stubbornly obedient in whatever way I have determined would punish you most for attempting to deceive me. Nagging me about something I was already planning to do is the worst, though, because that means I have to delay doing it until it is apparent I'm not doing it just because you told me to.

ryandrake 9y ago

I don’t have much to add but I’d like to point out that you can see that "voluntary" -> "economically enforced" -> "mandatory" progression pattern in other areas too, not just in insurance. Look at those electronic toll tags that used to be voluntary. Then you got a “discount“ for using them. Now there are lanes you can’t use without them. Credit cards are going down this path, with the big push towards a “cashless” society. Introduce some thing that not everyone wants, then incentivize it’s use, then punish it’s non-use.