I expect that this system, like democratic processes in general, would have problems because nearly all people, even on an individual level, don’t have clearly defined ideas of what they want to optimize. I’d expect a relatively small number of people to develop some understanding of the various choices and their effects, then the emergence of various political campaigns to promote one or another preference (for reasons idealistic and otherwise). I’d expect tribalism to set in rather quickly.
This is talking about the underlying preferences, not the surface level preferences. It’s an abstract moral system where we try to optimize people’s utility function, not a concrete political one where we ask people what they want.
I got that; I just don’t think most people have identifiable meta-preferences. I don’t. I expect less than half of Americans would quickly understand the concept of “meta-preferences”, and I’m pretty sure that God features prominently in the moral reasoning of most Americans (but perhaps not most Californians).
OTOH, I’m sure that many people have identifiable preferences and that some people are smart enough to work backwards. Somebody’s going to figure out which meta-preference leads to a lower tax rate and tell Fox News.
Voting relies on human judgement, which gets increasingly shaky the farther it gets from the humans’ concrete concerns. I think your approach magnifies the problems of democracy rather than solving them.
I expect that this system, like democratic processes in general, would have problems because nearly all people, even on an individual level, don’t have clearly defined ideas of what they want to optimize. I’d expect a relatively small number of people to develop some understanding of the various choices and their effects, then the emergence of various political campaigns to promote one or another preference (for reasons idealistic and otherwise). I’d expect tribalism to set in rather quickly.
This is talking about the underlying preferences, not the surface level preferences. It’s an abstract moral system where we try to optimize people’s utility function, not a concrete political one where we ask people what they want.
I got that; I just don’t think most people have identifiable meta-preferences. I don’t. I expect less than half of Americans would quickly understand the concept of “meta-preferences”, and I’m pretty sure that God features prominently in the moral reasoning of most Americans (but perhaps not most Californians).
OTOH, I’m sure that many people have identifiable preferences and that some people are smart enough to work backwards. Somebody’s going to figure out which meta-preference leads to a lower tax rate and tell Fox News.
Voting relies on human judgement, which gets increasingly shaky the farther it gets from the humans’ concrete concerns. I think your approach magnifies the problems of democracy rather than solving them.