tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post4263102693919875785..comments2024-03-22T00:35:19.082-07:00Comments on Casual Kitchen: Raw Milk: The IronyDanielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02388302796031288076noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-38956313857855078052016-05-03T20:46:01.946-07:002016-05-03T20:46:01.946-07:00Heck, most people don't even think through the...Heck, most people don't even think through the INTENDED consequences of what they propose! Policymaking is one of the most difficult and most thankless jobs in the world. It's no wonder that political life is populated by egotists ... you have to really believe that you're the Best Person for the Job in order to contemplate the job at all.chacha1http://www.ombailamos.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-30974561956587271482016-05-01T14:49:16.586-07:002016-05-01T14:49:16.586-07:00This is a great comment.
I think there may be an...This is a great comment. <br /><br />I think there may be an element of solipsism here too. I've found this while exploring examples of unintended consequences: it's notoriously difficult to perceive a new policy's unintended consequences when those consequences are unlikely for you. Thus, many (most?) people utterly fail to imagine any unintended consequences of their favorite pet policies... unless the consequences are ones *they* actually experience. <br /><br />Interesting also that this "failure" also makes the policy seem much smarter than it is, and it also helps the person believe "they know better," thereby completing the little circle of solipsism.<br /><br />DKDanielhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02388302796031288076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37886248.post-70209650872706892372016-04-30T08:38:12.285-07:002016-04-30T08:38:12.285-07:00I think this apparent inconsistency is actually *e...I think this apparent inconsistency is actually *exactly how most people think.* Most people have a certain story they have written for themselves about how the world works and how they operate within it. This story generally involves big swatches of other people's old ideas, stitched together with personal experiences, and with rationalizations patching over the bits of dogma that interfere with personal convenience aka "what I want to do."<br /><br />This story is of course the product of the combined influences of their parents, their homes, their immediate neighborhoods, their schools, and the washover of opinions from extended family and friends. There's evidence that independent, rational thought doesn't begin until a child is several years old, and even then there is some evidence that genetic predispositions are in play as to HOW a child will think. Nobody, in other words, begins their thinking life with an absolutely clear slate.<br /><br />Given that framework, most people then pick and choose from what they have read or seen or been told, and select facts, beliefs, and opinions that suit their constructed storyline and their biases. This is how you get - for example - Catholics who don't "believe" in contraception but are perfectly okay with premarital sex or divorce.<br /><br />The abundance of fiction that is accepted by most people when it comes to food, food science, nutrition, etc constantly amazes me, but it's actually completely predictable when you consider that we are the species that is perpetually attempting to explain our place in the universe to ourselves, preferably in a way that makes us look really special. :-)<br /><br />And taking it a little further toward the political, the real reason that libertarians have never achieved any significant political influence in this country is because "less government regulation" sounds absolutely great in the abstract, but nobody really wants for-profit police forces, lowest-bid bridges constructed without structural engineering review, or unregulated home building. <br /><br />The person who wants more government regulation of Food Products A-W but not Food Products X-Z is just a food libertarian who wants freedom to indulge their particular hobby-horse because "they know better."chacha1http://www.ombailamos.comnoreply@blogger.com