5 ms·

The restaurant example doesn't seem to be a fallacy? That is a real legal concern in US jurisdictions. I'm fairly certain there's some on-the-record case law t

The restaurant example doesn't seem to be a fallacy? That is a real legal concern in US jurisdictions. I'm fairly certain there's some on-the-record case law too. Plus, a real system can be almost limitlessly decomposed, the lower bound is the black hole limit. So it doesn't seem like there could be an inverse fallacy.

fknorangesite 3y ago
I think GP is trying to get at "unintended consequences", "this was a good idea at the time but didn't scale", or "we made totally-reasonable assumptions that turned out to be incorrect" ... all of which I'm sure we've all experienced first-hand in our lives.
- MichaelZuo 3y ago
  I can't see how saying there were, or could be, unintended consequences becomes a fallacy. All systems more complex then two electrons can behave unpredictably. That's just a fact, that will always be true in 100% of all possible scenarios. There's of course a norm in day-to-day life to not quibble about every possible combination of 3 electrons or however many below a reasonable threshold, but that norm is based on the differing opinions of individuals in society.
  - dev_hugepages 3y ago
    Heck even electrons are somewhat unpredictable
0xcde4c3db 3y ago
> That is a real legal concern in US jurisdictions. I'm fairly certain there's some on-the-record case law too. There have been a few attempts to substantiate this, but as far as I know there's no solid evidence that it's ever actually happened, let alone happened regularly enough to represent a serious risk. It's reminiscent of a lot of "stupid lawsuit" urban legends (some of which resemble real cases, but omit or change key facts).
- jonhohle 3y ago
  The McDonald’s coffee lawsuit is often cited as an example, but most people don’t know the details - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liebeck_v._McDonald%27s_Restaurants https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liebeck_v._McDonald%27s_Rest...
  - watwut 3y ago
    Dunno, that one is bad example, because it still looks like bad decision after you read details.
- cartoonworld 3y ago
  In my limited experience with one food-serving corporation, I found that their main issues were around quality. It is a very bad look to be serving unpalatable (but safe) food, period. The thought is that since exceeding the expiration (or more accurately, the quality) date of the ingredients (for example, tomatos) renders the finished products as substandard in some way, its frankly kind of a dick move to serve food you wouldn't sell to paying hungry people to any hungry people let along poor hungry people. Quality dates are a big part of spoilage in the food service industry, so the quality departments in all of these organizations try to min-max the dates to best represent their required quality, and of course their requirements are longevity, palatability and mostly sales. If an otherwise reputable food retailer begins serving a secondary market with what is definitionally substandard products, it opens a large and murky doorway to liabilities extending far beyond a mere lawsuit. What if the next kitchen mishandles the food and serves gross food to people in need? Even hungry poor people will dislike week old, vinegary tomato slices. There is also the possibility of cross contamination, but in general it is just best to avoid being one local news reporter away from revealing that FoodCo got $foo tax write off for serving mushy tomatoes to old people. A better use of this resource would be to transfer the wasted or spoiled food to a facility which creates compost for local residents or farms.
  - AlbertCory 3y ago
    You are misinformed about donated food. I've helped a food bank guy load donated food from the Safeway. It is not substandard. Bananas, for instance, are donated if they have any spots. Bread is donated after a day, when it's perfectly edible. Also a lot of milk. Second Harvest is a good place to research, and they oversee my food bank. Strict food safety rules are enforced, and they donated a refrigerated van to us.

fknorangesite 3y ago

I think GP is trying to get at "unintended consequences", "this was a good idea at the time but didn't scale", or "we made totally-reasonable assumptions that turned out to be incorrect" ... all of which I'm sure we've all experienced first-hand in our lives.

MichaelZuo 3y ago
I can't see how saying there were, or could be, unintended consequences becomes a fallacy. All systems more complex then two electrons can behave unpredictably. That's just a fact, that will always be true in 100% of all possible scenarios. There's of course a norm in day-to-day life to not quibble about every possible combination of 3 electrons or however many below a reasonable threshold, but that norm is based on the differing opinions of individuals in society.
- dev_hugepages 3y ago
  Heck even electrons are somewhat unpredictable

0xcde4c3db 3y ago

> That is a real legal concern in US jurisdictions. I'm fairly certain there's some on-the-record case law too. There have been a few attempts to substantiate this, but as far as I know there's no solid evidence that it's ever actually happened, let alone happened regularly enough to represent a serious risk. It's reminiscent of a lot of "stupid lawsuit" urban legends (some of which resemble real cases, but omit or change key facts).

jonhohle 3y ago
The McDonald’s coffee lawsuit is often cited as an example, but most people don’t know the details - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liebeck_v._McDonald%27s_Restaurants https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liebeck_v._McDonald%27s_Rest...
- watwut 3y ago
  Dunno, that one is bad example, because it still looks like bad decision after you read details.
cartoonworld 3y ago
In my limited experience with one food-serving corporation, I found that their main issues were around quality. It is a very bad look to be serving unpalatable (but safe) food, period. The thought is that since exceeding the expiration (or more accurately, the quality) date of the ingredients (for example, tomatos) renders the finished products as substandard in some way, its frankly kind of a dick move to serve food you wouldn't sell to paying hungry people to any hungry people let along poor hungry people. Quality dates are a big part of spoilage in the food service industry, so the quality departments in all of these organizations try to min-max the dates to best represent their required quality, and of course their requirements are longevity, palatability and mostly sales. If an otherwise reputable food retailer begins serving a secondary market with what is definitionally substandard products, it opens a large and murky doorway to liabilities extending far beyond a mere lawsuit. What if the next kitchen mishandles the food and serves gross food to people in need? Even hungry poor people will dislike week old, vinegary tomato slices. There is also the possibility of cross contamination, but in general it is just best to avoid being one local news reporter away from revealing that FoodCo got $foo tax write off for serving mushy tomatoes to old people. A better use of this resource would be to transfer the wasted or spoiled food to a facility which creates compost for local residents or farms.
- AlbertCory 3y ago
  You are misinformed about donated food. I've helped a food bank guy load donated food from the Safeway. It is not substandard. Bananas, for instance, are donated if they have any spots. Bread is donated after a day, when it's perfectly edible. Also a lot of milk. Second Harvest is a good place to research, and they oversee my food bank. Strict food safety rules are enforced, and they donated a refrigerated van to us.