People act in their self interest but not consciously

[SamH]

Hi,

 

A thought I had, seems important to me :

 

When talking about a group acting in it's own self interest (government workers for example) I believe it's very important to mention that it is often not a conscious calculus of "If I do X then I will benefit due to Y" but rather that the group has developed a worldview that naturally leads members to embrace actions that will benefit the group.

 

Example :

I was talking to a lawyer and she believed that the number of construction site workplace deaths in Australia was too high and that the solution was to introduce the crime of negligent manslaughter for site managers. She didn't consciously advocate this solution because it means more work and power for lawyers it's just that she's been trained to think primarily of solutions to problems that involve more power and work for lawyers.

 

Why this is important : 

To casually say that certain groups are acting in their self-interest and are not actually trying to solve a problem jars with people who are not aware, it sounds like a conspiracy theory and doesn't match their life experience. eg. "He says government workers aren't interested in solving societal problems, but the ones I know are nice people and would never 'screw-over' the poor just to get more job security or pay".

 

Unconscious 'world-view' based self-interest is far more powerful and dangerous than people knowingly embracing perverse incentives. Explicitly saying that people acting with evil results often don't know they are simply acting in their own interest makes it easier for people to see it.    

 

Cheers

Sam

[ThatAtheistPlace]

I totally agree.  I appreciate that this conversation seeks to solve that problem by reframing how people view normalcy, virtue, and truth  ...which would benefit me directly, LOL.  This seems like a great corollary to universally preferred behavior.