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Eh, I think some of these are circumstantial. The dating one probably applies to a very specific type of person. This is the one that does it for me: Why are e

Eh, I think some of these are circumstantial. The dating one probably applies to a very specific type of person. This is the one that does it for me: Why are even some affluent parts of the world running out of fresh water? Because if they weren’t, they’d keep watering their lawns until they were. It's all about greed/constraints/pressures/incentives/desires. People want to use water, but people don't have an incentive to keep water use down. Instead, they put pressure on engineers to bring availability up. And when availability, or supply, goes up, demand comes back in to seal the gap.

jamesaguilar 14y ago
Economics was aware of overconsumption of underpriced resources before Thomas Malthus. It's not really a Malthusian observation to say that if a good is priced lower than the cost of acquiring it, it will be over-consumed.
npsimons 14y ago
Eh, I think some of these are circumstantial. The dating one probably applies to a very specific type of person. Yeah, some of these are gross oversimplifications; others are just wrong. Take the shaving one for instance. You can get a very close shave and not cut yourself, and have been able to for as long as straight razors have been around. The reason people cut themselves is not because they want a closer shave, they want a shave that takes less time and money. If you didn't cut yourself this time, you obviously didn't go fast enough and don't need to buy a new razor. Razor gets dull and nicks you? Don't sharpen it (that takes time), chuck it in the trash and buy a new one. And working 90 hour weeks? That assumes that you provide more value for those 90 hours versus 40, which may not always be true. Work smarter not harder. As for the dating one, cruel, aloof or insensitive people are by definition not the type I would want to date.
fulafel 14y ago
That "some" really pulls the rug out from under it. It becomes pretty circular. "People who waste water do it until it runs out."

jamesaguilar 14y ago

Economics was aware of overconsumption of underpriced resources before Thomas Malthus. It's not really a Malthusian observation to say that if a good is priced lower than the cost of acquiring it, it will be over-consumed.

npsimons 14y ago

Eh, I think some of these are circumstantial. The dating one probably applies to a very specific type of person. Yeah, some of these are gross oversimplifications; others are just wrong. Take the shaving one for instance. You can get a very close shave and not cut yourself, and have been able to for as long as straight razors have been around. The reason people cut themselves is not because they want a closer shave, they want a shave that takes less time and money. If you didn't cut yourself this time, you obviously didn't go fast enough and don't need to buy a new razor. Razor gets dull and nicks you? Don't sharpen it (that takes time), chuck it in the trash and buy a new one. And working 90 hour weeks? That assumes that you provide more value for those 90 hours versus 40, which may not always be true. Work smarter not harder. As for the dating one, cruel, aloof or insensitive people are by definition not the type I would want to date.

fulafel 14y ago

That "some" really pulls the rug out from under it. It becomes pretty circular. "People who waste water do it until it runs out."