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I'm sure it is. But surely there would be some examples that could have been cited? I'd suggest that in government, it's not so much human nature that's differ

I'm sure it is. But surely there would be some examples that could have been cited? I'd suggest that in government, it's not so much human nature that's different as incentive structures. I don't mean to argue that government is all sunshine, roses and enlightened altruism. Just that even if Shirky's theorem is just as true of governments, this article doesn't support that conclusion, despite being written as if it does.

dcow 3y ago
I get what you’re saying and it’s a fair point (ack that it’d be nice to have a gov’t example) but I am just saying that I don’t think lack of citing a domain-specific case study implies a problem is irrelevant in a given domain. It’s rather strong of a statement to say that this article does not support the conclusion that government institutions or systems or entities are susceptible to the Shirky principle when it presents supporting evidence that is reasonably applicable to all types of institutions, systems, and entities.
- crabmusket 3y ago
  My original post wasn't so much to suggest that the problem is irrelevant to government. I was just pointing out the interesting ideological maneuver: show evidence of a problem in companies, then ask the reader to imagine a problem in government. Kelly's post struck me similarly. > supporting evidence that is reasonably applicable to all types of institutions, systems, and entities I don't agree, but this verges into my own opinion lacking any supporting evidence. It just seems clear to me that publically funded institutions must have very different incentives in some areas than privately funded market institutions. Again, I'm not saying this effect doesn't exist in governments. But it does need demonstrating, if one wants to actually argue that.