Level 1: “There’s a lion across the river.” = There’s a lion across the river.
Level 2: “There’s a lion across the river.” = I don’t want to go (or have other people go) across the river
Level 3: “There’s a lion across the river.” = I’m with the popular kids who are too cool to go across the river.
Level 4: “There’s a lion across the river.” = A firm stance against trans-river expansionism focus grouped well with undecided voters in my constituency.
The optimization you are describing is strongly rooted in level 1. There’s a clear image of a before/after state along with a feedback loop for correction. I presume this speaks to many people in the LW community, along with good project managers, engineers, etc., anyone really who really wants to change something in the world, whether it’s big or small.
However, I think politicians and the bureaucrats that work for them (or vice versa?) are on levels 3 and 4. Having metrics and using them to score policies would only get in the way of signaling group affiliation or building consensus. This is just another way of saying that often, the real impact a decision has is of less importance than how the people making the decision look and act.
That said, I’ve found a similar technique mentioned in productivity circles. Perhaps it was in a book by Peter Drucker. The gist was: When making a decision, make to include criteria which tell you whether it’s working or not.
Source: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/qDmnyEMtJkE9Wrpau/simulacra-levels-and-their-interactions
The optimization you are describing is strongly rooted in level 1. There’s a clear image of a before/after state along with a feedback loop for correction. I presume this speaks to many people in the LW community, along with good project managers, engineers, etc., anyone really who really wants to change something in the world, whether it’s big or small.
However, I think politicians and the bureaucrats that work for them (or vice versa?) are on levels 3 and 4. Having metrics and using them to score policies would only get in the way of signaling group affiliation or building consensus. This is just another way of saying that often, the real impact a decision has is of less importance than how the people making the decision look and act.
That said, I’ve found a similar technique mentioned in productivity circles. Perhaps it was in a book by Peter Drucker. The gist was: When making a decision, make to include criteria which tell you whether it’s working or not.