Monday, March 30, 2020

Trying to Have Different Perspectives

I am a fan of heterodox and contrarian thinking, which often comes from talented amateurs.  They are usually wrong, but as this article by Michael Abramowicz from the Volokh Conspiracy in Reason notes that even at worst, "sometimes the crackpot hits the jackpot." He discusses two recent articles that have attracted a lot of criticism, one by Robin Hanson of George Mason University and a second by Richard Epstein of the Hoover Institution.

It is worth reading both for the value of the original articles and the critiques of them, but also for observing the role that anger is playing in reducing reasonableness.

4 comments:

Douglas2 said...

"observing the role that anger is playing in reducing reasonableness"

Boy, the comments over there at "Reason"!

Assistant Village Idiot said...

I didn't even look. Sometimes I have that kind of willpower. Not often.

Liza said...

https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/the-contrarian-coronavirus-theory-that-informed-the-trump-administration

Epstein reveals his ego and ignorance on the subject himself in this interview in his own words. No one should be listening to him.

Assistant Village Idiot said...

That interview is discussed in the article