Starting a new thread on incentives, here's the old one:
This was too good not to keep it (I keep it, I can find it, it's in a thread now):
Technically it was already mentioned, but I'm just not so good with words. Here's the reference (you know I didn't _edit_ a random old tweet 😜):
Creating vs using tools, "standing on the shoulders of… haha! suckers!"
There are many references to incentives in this thread, and it's still far from complete.
Drugs hack our reward system, they seem to have positive value (even if not as much as other things) but in fact they have *negative value*, for a number of reasons, including physical harm, physical/psychological addiction, and its impact on "free will".
Drugs are bad for individuals & society → they are forbidden & punished
negative value → negative incentive
But
1 Not all that's bad for individuals/society is forbidden
2 Not all that's forbidden is bad
Misalignment: ethics/axiology & law/incentives
negative value → negative incentive
But
1 Not all that's bad for individuals/society is forbidden
2 Not all that's forbidden is bad
Misalignment: ethics/axiology & law/incentives
If a drug is not identified as such, it hacks legislative system (no punishment) & our reward system → markets
Feedback loop up to saturation of logistic function channel → when unsustainable → economic bubble bursts
if big enough → existential risk
Feedback loop up to saturation of logistic function channel → when unsustainable → economic bubble bursts
if big enough → existential risk
In small companies, the CEO may be involved in the hiring process (for the good or the bad). In large companies, the process can easily get out of control. This sets nonsensical incentives for people looking for a job.
Thread:
Thread:
Peer review is a huge matrioshka of bad incentives and moral hazards, for authors, reviewers, and everyone.
This is the pinnacle of the epistemical endeavour of the human being, so far…
This is the pinnacle of the epistemical endeavour of the human being, so far…
Not just for science, for anything you plan to do, double check the incentives in it
You won't like finding out later that you have been *trying* to move counter-current
You won't like finding out later that you have been *trying* to move counter-current
The 4th Estate may choose to side with the people, but it usually finds greater incentives in doing otherwise.
My perception is that recruiters, conferences, and many others, operate on similar incentives.
That creates a lot of noise, nonsense, and waste (especially of human time and effort), that could be better spent on something (nearly anything) else.
That creates a lot of noise, nonsense, and waste (especially of human time and effort), that could be better spent on something (nearly anything) else.
This happens on some jobs too, learning new things is working more to then work more, but w\o possibilities of better salary or promotions, either in the current organization or the local market. Additional effort has negative value in that context.
Software would have already eaten the world, but incentives are messed up in many levels
BTW: oftentimes programmers (closed source, secret) are paid less than sales & public speakers, where is really the value created & who is creating it?
Incentives…
BTW: oftentimes programmers (closed source, secret) are paid less than sales & public speakers, where is really the value created & who is creating it?
Incentives…
If what people wanted and what is best for them were the same thing, nutrition would be easy and everybody would be very healthy
Nobody would be poor either, they would not make bad decisions, and society would not waste their potential either
Nobody would be poor either, they would not make bad decisions, and society would not waste their potential either
Press has really messed up incentives.
ROI of few powerful actors
Loss of many powerless actors, with nothing to win and everything to lose
Loss of many powerless actors, with nothing to win and everything to lose
Academia has its own thread
Here
Successful (incentivized) strategy, if investors buy cherry picked examples
A moral hazard applied over a large population constantly is a certainty in numbers. Ethics may palliate the problem, but never solve it
A moral hazard applied over a large population constantly is a certainty in numbers. Ethics may palliate the problem, but never solve it
Economy tends to efficiency and to solve scarcity. Wrong incentives may create scarcity artificially (resulting in less efficiency) more effectively than economy solves it
Like a virus, they may put at risk the survival of their "hosts"
Like a virus, they may put at risk the survival of their "hosts"
About incentives
