It’s good that they’re aware that humans often make bad decisions. But the major take-away point from that article is the quote, “The moment that you admit that, you have to start protecting people.” And that’s a different issue.
I wouldn’t call this an encouraging awareness of bias. I call it an abuse of science to push an ideological agenda.
You seem to be making assumptions by what is meant by “start protecting people”. In particular, I’m guessing that you think this implies taking action that reduces ones freedom or ability to choose, but that’s not necessarily the case.
In the book Nudge, the author gives the example of laying out food in a school cafeteria in such a way that healthier food is more prominently displayed than unhealthy food. It has a huge effect on what people actually eat, and yet all the same food is still available.
The bigger problem is that regulators and others in gov’t are just as biased and make just as bad decisions as anyone else. And the effects are made worse by being imposed on so many others (at least some of whom would have better decisions if left to themselves).
It’s good that they’re aware that humans often make bad decisions. But the major take-away point from that article is the quote, “The moment that you admit that, you have to start protecting people.” And that’s a different issue.
I wouldn’t call this an encouraging awareness of bias. I call it an abuse of science to push an ideological agenda.
You seem to be making assumptions by what is meant by “start protecting people”. In particular, I’m guessing that you think this implies taking action that reduces ones freedom or ability to choose, but that’s not necessarily the case.
In the book Nudge, the author gives the example of laying out food in a school cafeteria in such a way that healthier food is more prominently displayed than unhealthy food. It has a huge effect on what people actually eat, and yet all the same food is still available.
The bigger problem is that regulators and others in gov’t are just as biased and make just as bad decisions as anyone else. And the effects are made worse by being imposed on so many others (at least some of whom would have better decisions if left to themselves).