The Perils of Thinking Like an Individual

Preferring common sense over abstract economic theory or unreliable historical data may seem like, well, common sense. But there’s another problem with placing too much faith in common sense — namely that although everyone thinks they know what it is, they often invoke it to reach wildly divergent conclusions. And because when something is a matter of common sense it is considered beyond dispute, these disagreements can be extraordinarily difficult to reconcile — as current political debates illustrate.

Source: The Perils of Thinking Like an Individual

 

-OR- The problem with complex topics that most people aren’t educated well enough to understand sufficiently but are still expected to interact with intelligently (e.g. voting on big socioeconomic issues, taking care of one’s own health, properly caring for the environment…).

The $300m cable that will save traders milliseconds – Telegraph

In the high-speed world of automated financial trading, milliseconds matter. So much so, in fact, that a saving of just six milliseconds in transmission time is all that is required to justify the laying of the first transatlantic communications cable for 10 years at a cost of more than $300m.

Source: The $300m cable that will save traders milliseconds – Telegraph

Missouri Hedges On ‘Teachers Can’t Friend Students’ Law – Slashdot

Missouri senators took a step Wednesday toward repealing a contentious new law limiting online conversations between teachers and students, but stirred opposition from the governor by still attempting to mandate that schools adopt their own policies about online chats and text messages. The action by the Senate Education Committee comes a couple of weeks after a Missouri judge blocked the new law on teacher-Internet communications from taking effect because of concerns it infringes on free-speech rights.

Source: Missouri Hedges On ‘Teachers Can’t Friend Students’ Law – Slashdot

RE: Missouri Law: Teachers and Students Can’t Be Facebook Friends – TIME

 

Are teachers so distrusted that we must have laws denying contact between them and students after-hours?

Then why are we willing to let teachers spend multiple hours alone with our children, unsupervised except by the other children?