More concretely, if my proposed model is accurate, then one explanation of why this issue is not more central to the modern left is that the transactional costs of entering the left’s zeitgeist have so far not been paid.
Without having a good idea whether the costs are equivalent to ~10,000 dollars in effort or ~100,000,000 dollars I don’t think that explanation contains much information.
There are some issues where it’s very cheap to put them into public attention and others where it isn’t.
If I would ask “Why don’t have have interstellar travel?” answering “Because the costs of developing interstellar travel haven’t been paid” might be a correct answer but at the same time completely useless for understaning the challenges of developing interstallar travel.
If you were to ask which star loves cake the most, and someone responded with an explanation about the differences between inanimate objects and cake-eating entities, that someone didn’t provide the type of answer you were looking for.
Why doesn’t the modern left seem to care so much about patients in mental institutions? Given the resource constraints model I’m pondering: Maybe you’ve misread how prevalent or important the issue is. Maybe you’re asking the wrong question. Maybe the modern left has less resources available than you thought.
Thought 2: Actually, it does answer your question
I wouldn’t be surprised if “the transaction costs have not been paid” is the answer.
ChristianKi: “Dustin, how come you didn’t eat lunch out with us today?”
Dustin: “I didn’t have any money in my wallet.”
I think the money-in-wallet answer is a useful, valid, and expected answer. However, there are other answers. Cash flow and accounting. Pay rates for people talking on the internet. Childhood causes of future careers and decision making. Government policies affecting food pricing. However, the proximate cause, and often the most useful answer, is “I didn’t have any money in my wallet.”
Thought 3: It’s not so obvious and that has consequences
The triple constraint model “Good, fast, cheap. Choose two.” is bandied about because it’s not second nature for some (many?) (most?) to keep in mind that there are resources constraints. This is often or usually with concrete physical work in the real world, not some nebulous concept like attentional resources!
I think it’s likely that the idea that there are costs to building physical objects like warp drives is more innate to people than the idea that there are limited funds available to pay for the things we can care about.
An entity that has acknowledged that there are attentional constraints will behave differently from one that has not. Thus, you can gain insight into the entity by observing it’s behavior. For example, if you think patients in mental institutions is salient thing for modern left given what the modern left seems to care about, and the modern left isn’t paying as much attention to it, then perhaps you’ve gained insight into the fact that the modern left needs to learn about attentional resources.
Thought 4: Warp drives
NASA didn’t take the project management triangle to heart during the course of space shuttle development.
By observing this, we learn lessons about the challenges we’ll face during interstellar travel plans.
...
As I said, my answer doesn’t exactly map onto your question, but I think it’s close.
Without having a good idea whether the costs are equivalent to ~10,000 dollars in effort or ~100,000,000 dollars I don’t think that explanation contains much information.
There are some issues where it’s very cheap to put them into public attention and others where it isn’t.
If I would ask “Why don’t have have interstellar travel?” answering “Because the costs of developing interstellar travel haven’t been paid” might be a correct answer but at the same time completely useless for understaning the challenges of developing interstallar travel.
Thought 1: Stars don’t love cake
If you were to ask which star loves cake the most, and someone responded with an explanation about the differences between inanimate objects and cake-eating entities, that someone didn’t provide the type of answer you were looking for.
Why doesn’t the modern left seem to care so much about patients in mental institutions? Given the resource constraints model I’m pondering: Maybe you’ve misread how prevalent or important the issue is. Maybe you’re asking the wrong question. Maybe the modern left has less resources available than you thought.
Thought 2: Actually, it does answer your question
I wouldn’t be surprised if “the transaction costs have not been paid” is the answer.
ChristianKi: “Dustin, how come you didn’t eat lunch out with us today?”
Dustin: “I didn’t have any money in my wallet.”
I think the money-in-wallet answer is a useful, valid, and expected answer. However, there are other answers. Cash flow and accounting. Pay rates for people talking on the internet. Childhood causes of future careers and decision making. Government policies affecting food pricing. However, the proximate cause, and often the most useful answer, is “I didn’t have any money in my wallet.”
Thought 3: It’s not so obvious and that has consequences
The triple constraint model “Good, fast, cheap. Choose two.” is bandied about because it’s not second nature for some (many?) (most?) to keep in mind that there are resources constraints. This is often or usually with concrete physical work in the real world, not some nebulous concept like attentional resources!
I think it’s likely that the idea that there are costs to building physical objects like warp drives is more innate to people than the idea that there are limited funds available to pay for the things we can care about.
An entity that has acknowledged that there are attentional constraints will behave differently from one that has not. Thus, you can gain insight into the entity by observing it’s behavior. For example, if you think patients in mental institutions is salient thing for modern left given what the modern left seems to care about, and the modern left isn’t paying as much attention to it, then perhaps you’ve gained insight into the fact that the modern left needs to learn about attentional resources.
Thought 4: Warp drives
NASA didn’t take the project management triangle to heart during the course of space shuttle development.
By observing this, we learn lessons about the challenges we’ll face during interstellar travel plans.
...
As I said, my answer doesn’t exactly map onto your question, but I think it’s close.