@maxefremov The FDA has loosened many of its usual restrictions because of the pandemic. The concept of risk-benefit tradeoffs is, I expect, very familiar to them. “Deregulation can ever be good” is clearly a notion the Trump administration has heard of.
@maxefremov Actually deregulating to the extent I support would require what is commonly called “fanaticism” — willingness to keep pushing against resistance to the point of becoming a boor — which I think is selected against in all leadership positions, public or private.
@maxefremov “I don’t care how nice, smart, or “reasonable” you are, I’m not gonna accept your excuses until the cost (or death rate, or w/e) goes down” is the attitude you need here.
@maxefremov Because bureaucrats *are* nice, sincere, and extremely well educated. They will always have plausible reasons, which they actually believe, why some source of delay or cost is necessary. And, typically, you will get your explanation and feel sheepish and not push.
@maxefremov (Trump is a boor but not a fanatic; he is willing to “disrespect” experts by pushing them on timelines and asking “stupid” but often essential questions, but he’s *not* monomaniacally focused on a single desired outcome, no matter the social cost.)
@maxefremov Jeff Bezos is, by all accounts, a fanatic in this sense about cost-cutting within Amazon. I am not sure we have ever had a fanatic US President.
@maxefremov A fanatic asks “ok but does it help with the Outcome?” every. single. time. to the point where if upending his own organization will help, he’ll do that. Larry Kramer was a fanatic. That’s why he got kicked out of the org he founded.
@maxefremov When you meet a fanatic, you realize how many of your preconceptions about “necessity” are fake. “But you Need to pay a salary this high!” Do you? Or could you relocate to somewhere unfashionable? hire people who didn’t go to fancy schools but can still do the work?
@maxefremov “but you Need to write a formal report!” Do you? how does that change the Outcome?
@maxefremov “Ok but now your org is disrespectable, unprofessional, and a really stressful place to work!” “Ok but does that change the Outcome?”
@maxefremov “but you’re alienating people!” “Ok does that change the Outcome?”
@maxefremov “But the people doing it the other way are so much more technologically advanced and smarter than you!” “Ok but are their Outcomes better?”
@maxefremov Do you really care about the Outcome? Or are you only willing to do things to improve the Outcome so long as they don’t disturb all the *other* stuff you care about?
@maxefremov We often use people’s self-sacrifice as a proxy for commitment. You say you care about X — do you care enough to give up wealth and comfort for it? To give up having children? To give up eating meat?
@maxefremov Self-sacrifice *does* indicate commitment, all else equal, but IMO it’s more revealing on the low end than the high end. Someone who never endures even mild inconvenience for his goal is not motivated;
@maxefremov but that doesn’t mean that the *most* self-sacrificing people are the *most* motivated. Why? Many of the things that you have to “sacrifice” to a goal are not actually related to personal enjoyment.
@maxefremov You can save money by locating your org in a cheap place or not hiring too many people; you can also save by refusing to buy office snacks or comfortable chairs; the latter hurts more but saves less.
@maxefremov You can “sacrifice” unexamined assumptions of “necessity” without sacrificing anyone’s personal enjoyment of life. Some people who are very good at this kind of prioritization are not extremely personally ascetic, but they do really care about their goal.
@maxefremov The only actually good metric of whether someone cares about the Outcome is whether the Outcome improves due to their actions.
@maxefremov Most people aren’t anywhere *near* doing “everything in their power” to improve an Outcome.
@maxefremov Selectively saying “oh he has a frivolous hobby so he doesn’t Really Care” is not informative. Basically nobody Really Cares to the point of cutting out everything extraneous. Even the people living on spartan fare and being “productive” 12 hours a day.
@maxefremov (IME, many of the people who are “devoting all their waking moments” to a Cause and looking down on everyone else for being selfish, are only doing the types of “work” that are fun for them.)
@maxefremov (Like, I can write 12 hours a day too! That’s because I LIKE IT. It’s not a sacrifice.)
@maxefremov Nobody “Actually Cares” about Saving Lives as much as idealist rhetoric or fiction says heroes do. Even the people who actually do save the most lives.
@maxefremov “Oh noez those lazy attention-whore nurses are making silly dancing videos on social media! Someone has too much free time!” Fuck you.
@maxefremov If you want to know who Really Cares about saving lives or the future of humanity or w/e, look at how much positive impact they’ve had on COVID19.
