When we feel wronged in a relationship, “silent treatment” instead of confrontation is a common response, despite being much less effective to change the other person’s behaviour, and to improve our wellbeing.
Why do we nonetheless opt for it?
https://www.bps.org.uk/research-digest/why-do-we-give-people-silent-treatment
“In several key contributions, Trivers helped lift the veil on the underlying logic of human behaviour.”
@page_eco reviews the work of the scientist deservedly characterized as Darwin’s heir, Robert Trivers, who died two weeks ago:
https://www.optimallyirrational.com/p/the-fascinating-insights-of-robert
Absence of support for undemocratic practices in America masks an important threat—democratic neutrality (neither supporting nor opposing them).
Research by Hall et al finds this to be a prevalent attitude to at least one undemocratic practice:
A child’s ability to understand the link between counting and quantity is a strong predictor of school readiness.
New research suggests parental math anxiety significantly influence the development of this quantitative ability:
https://www.psypost.org/parental-math-anxiety-linked-to-lower-quantitative-skills-in-young-children/
“…if risky behavior does not vary by income, we should conclude that the poor are more irresponsible than the rich,” writes @bryan_caplan, master of the countermoralintuitive observation:
Kierkegaard dons a mask and wants your knowledge:
Most of us might frown upon untruths in accounting, but we might well be more tolerant of “little white lies” in marketing, negotiating and salesmanship.
Does lying have a legitimate role in Business?
In-house ethicist John Paul Rollert discusses:
https://www.chicagobooth.edu/review/ihe-podcast/whats-role-lying-business
Why is there such a strong aversion to the use of AI?
Research by Oldemburg de Mello et al finds AI is moralized at levels comparable to GMOs, suggesting pragmatic arguments are not enough to reap the benefits of AI—moral concerns must also be addressed:
Increasing the state pension by more than price or wage inflation is not necessarily a bad idea.
What is a bad idea is doing so without stating when a ‘temporary’ measure will be stopped—with many examples, like Britain’s state pension’s “triple lock”:
https://koenfucius.substack.com/p/the-exits-nobody-plans-for
