Upside of Irrationality Chapter 9: On Empathy and Emotion

[zmoney86]

great talk!

[allyourcode]

I went to see Dr. Ariely at a book talk he gave for his (then) new book, The Upside of Irrationality, and I told him this was very troubling to me. It might be that we do a poor job at carrying out the utilitarian moral calculus, since we're probably not naturally endowed with the capability to perform moral calculus. Yet there are many things we are not born with, but successfully acquire as we are raised. Can we not change the way we raise children, so that future generations give better?

[allyourcode]

I remember reading this chapter, and feeling very depressed. Why can't we use facts to do the right thing? Then, it struck me as a moral problem. Specifically, I wondered about the utilitarian principle: we should be allocating our charitable giving to effect the greatest good to the most people. Yet we find that we do not follow this moral principle. Instead of trying to address killing in Darfur, we turn our attention to a single girl, trapped in a well.

[TheNancam]

Interesting. I think part of the emotional response is "one time" vs Chronic conditions. Malaria, TB, famine, Ethiopia, etc, never seem to go away, despite pleas and appeals for money. Katrina, 9/11, SE Asia tsunami etc. as more isolated events, while shocking and affecting a large number of people, are perceived as one-time crises, thus the initial response can be large.

AIDS is interesting. It would be interesting to see the fundraising over time. Initially, a 'gay disease', vs pop. cause.

[TimRosenTV]

Very insightful, I can relate to the willingness to help an individual in need vs. trying do something about Malaria. Looking forward to seeing you in West Palm Beach