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> it's technically rational to do just that. > there are probably millions of retirees who'll get stuck with all those losses These statements don't seem to f

> it's technically rational to do just that. > there are probably millions of retirees who'll get stuck with all those losses These statements don't seem to fit together. Dumping losses on retirees doesn't seem rational, it seems sociopathic.

ConceptJunkie 8y ago
It depends whether you are rationally trying to maximize your own profits at any cost, or acting in a way that is also good for others. It's possible to seek evil ends in a rational way.
- mcphage 8y ago
  > rationally trying to maximize your own profits at any cost That sounds like a great plan if you're not going to be a retiree in a few decades. Maybe you plan on dying early? > It's possible to seek evil ends in a rational way. Teaching people how to kick someone when they're down isn't rational. It just means that you're going to get kicked when you're down, too.
  - ConceptJunkie 8y ago
    > That sounds like a great plan if you're not going to be a retiree in a few decades. Maybe you plan on dying early? No, I'm saying investing while things are hot, and selling before it cools down is a way to maximize profits. It doesn't require sustainability. There are a ton of millionaires from the Dot Com boom in the early 2000s that got theirs and got out before the bubble broke. It works; it just leaves a _lot_ of collateral damage, so it's not a moral thing to do. But it works. That was my point. > Teaching people how to kick someone when they're down isn't rational. It just means that you're going to get kicked when you're down, too. There are a lot of rich people that would laugh at this. I'm not saying it's good, I'm saying it's rational.
    - mcphage 8y ago
      > There are a ton of millionaires from the Dot Com boom in the early 2000s that got theirs and got out before the bubble broke. And there's a lot of not-millionaires who tried that and missed the window by that much. > But it works. That was my point. It works sometimes. But it's unreliable. Maybe you get lucky, and maybe you don't. That's not being rational, that's just plain old gambling. Some people became millionaires from scratch-off tickets, too.
jki275 8y ago
Socipaths are often extremely rational. They just don't have a moral foundation or framework.
- mcphage 8y ago
  I was under the impression that sociopaths are frequently impulsive, acting without considering the long term consequences of their behavior? (Pulling from sites like: https://psychcentral.com/blog/differences-between-a-psychopath-vs-sociopath/ https://psychcentral.com/blog/differences-between-a-psychopa... )
  - jki275 8y ago
    impulsive doesn't necessarily equal irrational. Many of them have been perfectly rational and have had very good impulse control.

ConceptJunkie 8y ago

It depends whether you are rationally trying to maximize your own profits at any cost, or acting in a way that is also good for others. It's possible to seek evil ends in a rational way.

mcphage 8y ago
> rationally trying to maximize your own profits at any cost That sounds like a great plan if you're not going to be a retiree in a few decades. Maybe you plan on dying early? > It's possible to seek evil ends in a rational way. Teaching people how to kick someone when they're down isn't rational. It just means that you're going to get kicked when you're down, too.
- ConceptJunkie 8y ago
  > That sounds like a great plan if you're not going to be a retiree in a few decades. Maybe you plan on dying early? No, I'm saying investing while things are hot, and selling before it cools down is a way to maximize profits. It doesn't require sustainability. There are a ton of millionaires from the Dot Com boom in the early 2000s that got theirs and got out before the bubble broke. It works; it just leaves a _lot_ of collateral damage, so it's not a moral thing to do. But it works. That was my point. > Teaching people how to kick someone when they're down isn't rational. It just means that you're going to get kicked when you're down, too. There are a lot of rich people that would laugh at this. I'm not saying it's good, I'm saying it's rational.
  - mcphage 8y ago
    > There are a ton of millionaires from the Dot Com boom in the early 2000s that got theirs and got out before the bubble broke. And there's a lot of not-millionaires who tried that and missed the window by that much. > But it works. That was my point. It works sometimes. But it's unreliable. Maybe you get lucky, and maybe you don't. That's not being rational, that's just plain old gambling. Some people became millionaires from scratch-off tickets, too.

jki275 8y ago

Socipaths are often extremely rational. They just don't have a moral foundation or framework.

mcphage 8y ago
I was under the impression that sociopaths are frequently impulsive, acting without considering the long term consequences of their behavior? (Pulling from sites like: https://psychcentral.com/blog/differences-between-a-psychopath-vs-sociopath/ https://psychcentral.com/blog/differences-between-a-psychopa... )
- jki275 8y ago
  impulsive doesn't necessarily equal irrational. Many of them have been perfectly rational and have had very good impulse control.