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1st order thinking dominates our politics and economics. And worse, there's no incentive for 2nd order thinking from our politicians, since the electorate doesn
by markdog12 8y ago
1st order thinking dominates our politics and economics. And worse, there's no incentive for 2nd order thinking from our politicians, since the electorate doesn't go beyond 1st order. Further, pre-existing assumptions are usually backed by 1st order thinking, but not 2nd.
Not a bad little book promoting 2nd order thinking in economics: https://fee.org/resources/economics-in-one-lesson/ https://fee.org/resources/economics-in-one-lesson/
- humanrebar 8y ago> 1st order thinking dominates our politics and economics. At least in U.S. politics, we have a surplus of second order thinking. We can't get mundane immediate compromises made because people are worried about identities, factions, and trust issues, which are all second order concerns. For instance, it's not controversial to think that H1B visas are a mess, but legislation on specific immigration reform tends to get stymied by the desire for comprehensive immigration reform. Why not just fix one immigration problem? Because immigration proponents and restrictionists do not trust each other that the piecemeal reforms they want will be passed the next time around. The same pattern comes up in plenty of other controversial issues such as abortion, tax reform, and lately judicial appointments.
- bena 8y agoI think it's a tactic. Politicians use whatever order thinking is most convenient to promote their ideas. nth-order thinking is great for debate because you can use increasingly tenuous connections to justify your position.