Can you think of a precedent or example for such external incentives in other areas?
Good question. I was somewhat inspired by civil engineering, where it’s my understanding that there is a rather strong culture of safety, driven in part by various historical accidents that killed a lot of people and caught the attention of regulators / insurers / etc. I don’t actually know exactly how many of the resulting reforms were a result of external pressure vs. people just generally shaping up and not wanting to kill more people, but given how much good intentions may be neglected in the face of bad incentives (AFAIK, several historical accidents [e.g.] were known to be disasters just waiting to happen well ahead of time), I would guess that external incentives / consequences have played a major role in them.
Good question. I was somewhat inspired by civil engineering, where it’s my understanding that there is a rather strong culture of safety, driven in part by various historical accidents that killed a lot of people and caught the attention of regulators / insurers / etc. I don’t actually know exactly how many of the resulting reforms were a result of external pressure vs. people just generally shaping up and not wanting to kill more people, but given how much good intentions may be neglected in the face of bad incentives (AFAIK, several historical accidents [e.g.] were known to be disasters just waiting to happen well ahead of time), I would guess that external incentives / consequences have played a major role in them.