16: Tyler Cowen - The Revolution Will Not Be Marginalized: Difference between revisions
16: Tyler Cowen - The Revolution Will Not Be Marginalized (edit)
Revision as of 23:47, 9 February 2020
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'''Eric:''' So in some sense this is the Great Moderation, which last time was about market volatility, and here it's about the volatility of human violence. | '''Eric:''' So in some sense this is the Great Moderation, which last time was about market volatility, and here it's about the volatility of human violence. | ||
'''Tyler:''' Great Moderations maybe contain the seeds of their own destruction. Again, I would want to be cautious there, because we don't understand destructive decisions very well. Like why did Hitler invade Russia? We know a lot about it in the documented sense, but I don't feel it's understood very well. | '''Tyler:''' Great Moderations ''maybe'' contain the seeds of their own destruction. Again, I would want to be cautious there, because we don't understand destructive decisions very well. Like why did Hitler invade Russia? We know a lot about it in the documented sense, but I don't feel it's understood very well. | ||
'''Eric:''' Agreed. And I agree that we don't know why so few reservoirs have been poisoned with relatively low-tech options. The Las Vegas shooting for example showed what a small level of innovation in mass killing can do to really amp the body count if that's what somebody is trying to optimize. I think that there is a huge mystery, but I don't think that Pinker from what I understand of his basis for optimism, is really getting at that. People who listen to this podcast and have heard me elsewhere, have heard me complain that it's as if he's neglecting a potential energy term but for violence. And so, the realized violence as you were pointing out has gone down – but the potential for violence is enormous, and as the cost falls, the access to violence of this particular nature seems to put it within reach of far too many hands. | '''Eric:''' Agreed. And I agree that we don't know why so few reservoirs have been poisoned with relatively low-tech options. The Las Vegas shooting for example showed what a small level of innovation in mass killing can do to really amp the body count if that's what somebody is trying to optimize. I think that there is a huge mystery, but I don't think that Pinker from what I understand of his basis for optimism, is really getting at that. People who listen to this podcast and have heard me elsewhere, have heard me complain that it's as if he's neglecting a potential energy term but for violence. And so, the realized violence as you were pointing out has gone down – but the potential for violence is enormous, and as the cost falls, the access to violence of this particular nature seems to put it within reach of far too many hands. | ||