Time to dump your behavioral economics holdings

Most really crazy ideas start life off as sensible notions. That human choices are not rational exercises of our ability to calculate is a sensible move.



Somewhere along the line, though, behavioral economics started to lose it. It was only a matter of time before we started seeing public indications that what had seemed sane on the outside was masking major instability. The moment when things that seem only seem rational to people inside a movement were going to show up. The following, for example:

Food isn’t about Nutrition
Clothes aren’t about Comfort
Bedrooms aren’t about Sleep
Marriage isn’t about Romance
Talk isn’t about Info
Laughter isn’t about Jokes
Charity isn’t about Helping
Church isn’t about God
Art isn’t about Insight
Medicine isn’t about Health
Consulting isn’t about Advice
School isn’t about Learning
Research isn’t about Progress
Politics isn’t about Policy

That's from Robin Hanson. Some of what is written above is just crazy talk. If you really think food isn't about nutrition, try doing without for a while. And anyone who really thinks clothes aren't about comfort hasn't experienced winter.

Some things in that list may not look as insane as they actually are at first glance. That is because you can correct every single misstatement above by the addition of a word or two and most of us probably pop them in for Hanson as we read. But write the sentences out with the missing words supplied and you'll notice how utterly commonplace and trite every single claim becomes

Food isn't only about nutrition.
Clothes aren't about just comfort.
Bedrooms aren't only about sleeping.
Marriage isn't adequately explained by romance.
A lot of talk isn't about information.
Laughter isn't always about jokes.
A lot of charity isn't about helping.
Church isn't about God. (True but not in the way Hanson thinks it is. )
Art isn't about insight. (True.)
Medicine sometimes isn't about health.
Consulting isn't about advice. (True.)
For a lot of people, school isn't about learning. (They don't do very well outside school either.)
Research isn't about progress but is anything about progress?
Politics isn't about policy most of the time. (Is there anyone so naive as to have thought otherwise?)