Moral Mazes is excellent though I'm curious in what sense it's about "The World As Sorting Algorithm"?
Never mind. As I started to type this comment, I think I figured out. There are two main theories for why bureaucracies are the way they are:
(1) The Incentive Theory: Bureaucracies are made of normal people who because of perverse incentives, behave in suboptimal ways.
(2) The Selection Theory: Bureacracies are made of "bureaucratic" people who are drawn to a system that matches their natural psychological inclinations. Normal people are repulsed, and thus, opt out of the system, leaving only those who love bureaucracy for the sake of bureaucracy.
In my opinion, Moral Mazes is agnostic about whether incentives or selection are the primary cause of bureaucracies. I'm curious to see you make your case though.
Just a random commenter here, but I am very much looking forward to this.
Moral Mazes is excellent though I'm curious in what sense it's about "The World As Sorting Algorithm"?
Never mind. As I started to type this comment, I think I figured out. There are two main theories for why bureaucracies are the way they are:
(1) The Incentive Theory: Bureaucracies are made of normal people who because of perverse incentives, behave in suboptimal ways.
(2) The Selection Theory: Bureacracies are made of "bureaucratic" people who are drawn to a system that matches their natural psychological inclinations. Normal people are repulsed, and thus, opt out of the system, leaving only those who love bureaucracy for the sake of bureaucracy.
In my opinion, Moral Mazes is agnostic about whether incentives or selection are the primary cause of bureaucracies. I'm curious to see you make your case though.
Yes, I had a lengthy disagreement with Zvi Mowshowitz on this topic. https://cactus.substack.com/p/zvi-mowshowitz-how-the-worst-people#details
I put more weight on selection while he puts more weight on incentives.