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Yeah, this is a terrible idea, for all the reasons people have already listed. Perverse incentives, easily gamed. You have to wonder how these kind of things

by herbig 11y ago

Yeah, this is a terrible idea, for all the reasons people have already listed. Perverse incentives, easily gamed. You have to wonder how these kind of things even get past the initial brainstorming sessions. It only takes a couple reasonably intelligent people a bit of discussion to come up with why this is not a good idea. But maybe Uber knows what they are doing, or how to handle the downsides. I'm skeptical.

copsarebastards 11y ago
If you're not going to think for yourself, at least try to choose more intelligent people to think for you instead of parroting the ridiculous opinion of the first poster on the thread.
- herbig 11y ago
  I'm not sure what you're trying to say, or why you think it's a ridiculous opinion. People respond to incentives. If you add an incentive to drink more, they will do so. Whether the positives outweigh the negatives is hard to tell, but you can't ignore the fact that they are there.
  - copsarebastards 11y ago
    I can and will ignore the hypothesis you are claiming is a fact, because even if it's true, it's too minor to be worth talking about. Copy/pasting what I said elsewhere: So instead of drinking one or two drinks someone might drink two or three? Be still my heart! /sarcasm If you want to talk about "perverse" incentives you've no sense of the big picture. Are you really going to criticize Uber when there is a multibillion dollar alcohol and nightlife industry advertising, giving away free samples, and over serving people? Get some perspective, you're way overthinking this. You have zero evidence that this will increase drinking and it's pretty reasonable to hypothesize that it will decrease drunk driving. Ethical responsibility for drinking falls solely on the drinker anyway.
    - herbig 11y ago
      "Perverse incentives" is a term, not a negation of the word incentives. If you'd like me to criticize the alcohol and nightlife industry I could do that as well, but I was discussing Uber, as that is what the link discussed. You've just described the multibillion dollar industry "giving away free samples, and over serving people" and then claimed that the responsibility falls solely on the drinker. You're all over the place copsarebastards.
      - copsarebastards 11y ago
        There's no way to make assertions about the effects of Uber on alcohol consumption because any effect Uber might have is negligible comparison with the effects of the alcohol and nightlife industries. I'm not saying you should criticize those industries, I'm saying that if you're going to blame someone other than the drinker for the innocuous crime of drinking one more drink than usual, it's ridiculous to target Uber. I talked about the alcohol and nightlife industries as a criticism of your statements. Alcohol consumption being the responsibility of the drinker is a statement of my own belief. If you can't understand why these ideas are not contradictory I can't help you.
schoen 11y ago
You could probably increase your Breathalyzer reading sharply by gargling with a few mL of hard liquor seconds before taking the test. (I understood this as an unmanned device.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breathalyzer#Mouth_alcohol https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breathalyzer#Mouth_alcohol "[C]ertified breath-test operators are trained to observe a test subject carefully for at least 15–20 minutes before administering the test [... A] very tiny amount of alcohol from the mouth, throat or stomach can have a significant impact on the breath-alcohol reading." If so, people who haven't been drinking at all but are willing to carry around a flask of liquor might be able to get free rides home at any time.
- copsarebastards 11y ago
  So what? It's a promotion, if Uber wants to give away money that's their call.
  - schoen 11y ago
    I didn't mean to join all of the other criticisms of the program; I was just interested in the reliability of the Breathalyzer as a way of achieving the apparent goal, which I think is low. I'm not particularly bothered or concerned that Uber is doing this.

by herbig 11y ago

copsarebastards 11y ago

If you're not going to think for yourself, at least try to choose more intelligent people to think for you instead of parroting the ridiculous opinion of the first poster on the thread.

herbig 11y ago
I'm not sure what you're trying to say, or why you think it's a ridiculous opinion. People respond to incentives. If you add an incentive to drink more, they will do so. Whether the positives outweigh the negatives is hard to tell, but you can't ignore the fact that they are there.
- copsarebastards 11y ago
  I can and will ignore the hypothesis you are claiming is a fact, because even if it's true, it's too minor to be worth talking about. Copy/pasting what I said elsewhere: So instead of drinking one or two drinks someone might drink two or three? Be still my heart! /sarcasm If you want to talk about "perverse" incentives you've no sense of the big picture. Are you really going to criticize Uber when there is a multibillion dollar alcohol and nightlife industry advertising, giving away free samples, and over serving people? Get some perspective, you're way overthinking this. You have zero evidence that this will increase drinking and it's pretty reasonable to hypothesize that it will decrease drunk driving. Ethical responsibility for drinking falls solely on the drinker anyway.
  - herbig 11y ago
    "Perverse incentives" is a term, not a negation of the word incentives. If you'd like me to criticize the alcohol and nightlife industry I could do that as well, but I was discussing Uber, as that is what the link discussed. You've just described the multibillion dollar industry "giving away free samples, and over serving people" and then claimed that the responsibility falls solely on the drinker. You're all over the place copsarebastards.
    - copsarebastards 11y ago
      There's no way to make assertions about the effects of Uber on alcohol consumption because any effect Uber might have is negligible comparison with the effects of the alcohol and nightlife industries. I'm not saying you should criticize those industries, I'm saying that if you're going to blame someone other than the drinker for the innocuous crime of drinking one more drink than usual, it's ridiculous to target Uber. I talked about the alcohol and nightlife industries as a criticism of your statements. Alcohol consumption being the responsibility of the drinker is a statement of my own belief. If you can't understand why these ideas are not contradictory I can't help you.

schoen 11y ago

You could probably increase your Breathalyzer reading sharply by gargling with a few mL of hard liquor seconds before taking the test. (I understood this as an unmanned device.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breathalyzer#Mouth_alcohol https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breathalyzer#Mouth_alcohol "[C]ertified breath-test operators are trained to observe a test subject carefully for at least 15–20 minutes before administering the test [... A] very tiny amount of alcohol from the mouth, throat or stomach can have a significant impact on the breath-alcohol reading." If so, people who haven't been drinking at all but are willing to carry around a flask of liquor might be able to get free rides home at any time.

copsarebastards 11y ago
So what? It's a promotion, if Uber wants to give away money that's their call.
- schoen 11y ago
  I didn't mean to join all of the other criticisms of the program; I was just interested in the reliability of the Breathalyzer as a way of achieving the apparent goal, which I think is low. I'm not particularly bothered or concerned that Uber is doing this.