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That's assuming false beliefs act as economic hindrances - this is not necessarily the case. Global warming comes to mind, and pretty much anything else that's
by deogeo 7y ago
That's assuming false beliefs act as economic hindrances - this is not necessarily the case. Global warming comes to mind, and pretty much anything else that's an externality on an international level - deforestation, pollution, overfishing... Believing that the best contraception is abstention, and no other method should be taught, will result in increased fertility due to all the unplanned pregnancies, causing the group with that belief to grow faster than groups using effective contraception.
Truth and Darwinian utility are correlated, but they are not the same.
- bediger4000 7y ago> Truth and Darwinian utility are correlated, but they are not the same. I agree completely, and that's a problem - the USSR piled up a great many externalities while slowing going down. But if we can't agree to disagree, and even the factual basis of the universe is in contention (flood "geology"), then what's left? You can't teach by armed enforcement. As the article says, and experience dictates, arguments (in the sense of a set of convincing statements leading to an inevitable conclusion) just don't work. The US as a society slowly slid away from some kind of consensus about reality. You have to let reality (which doesn't go away when you stop believing in it) teach a few hard lessons. I hate this conclusion, by the way.