Host of the Mind Killer podcast and Philadelphia ACX meetup. More at https://tinyurl.com/yournewfriendwes
Wes F
Karma: 87
Theory 4: people only care about poor people in the in-group. People like welfare when it helps people similar to themselves, and hate it when it “enables” stupid lazy people in the out-group. This is often heavily racial—the countries with the most generous welfare systems are also the most racial homogeneous. So whether one votes in favor of welfare is determined by who they imagine being helped. This can often change rapidly, leaving public opinion on welfare to be a confusing mess.
This is a good post about how to become a more reliable person. I often find it incredibly frustrating when people flake on me, and I really know very few people who don’t consistently flake on plans.
I think this is good advice for people who want to become more reliable. However, I often suspect that the people who consistently flake don’t want to be more reliable. My suspicion is that people wish to signal behavior by *saying* they’re going to do something without actually doing it. Much like a politician making campaign promises, there are social rewards for indicating interest in activities, and you don’t necessarily lose those all of those rewards by failing to show up. I often feel like I’m just being told what I want to hear. So really, if we are to become more reliable, we may need to become more honest.
I don’t know how correct this post is, but I highly approve of it as an effort to understand and humanize a pretty strong outgroup.