The Cobra Effect • Hacker News Board

Re: The Cobra Effect

#21

Post by nateabele » Fri, Oct 02, 2015, 1:50 AM UTC

jfoutz wrote: post #11

nateabele wrote: post #2

See also: nearly every agency of the US government.

I know right? Can you imagine how bad it would be if the department of defense wanted some sort of packet switched communication system that would survive a nuclear war? Geez, we really got lucky there.

No... not exactly. It's interesting that you pick that one, because Alan Kay talks at length about this subject (poke around YouTube and you can find clips if you're interested). Most of that tech came about because there was a lot of paranoia, a lot of money, and not a lot of good ideas. So they took the money and threw it at universities and research labs, without very many strings attached. Once it started to look like we were winning, all the funding dried up.

Re: The Cobra Effect

#22

Post by Houshalter » Fri, Oct 02, 2015, 1:55 AM UTC

If they set a date where the bounty would end, this wouldn't have happened. The cobra breeders would know their cobras would become worthless in a month, and so collect the bounty while they could.

The rat thing could have prevented by collecting the whole rat instead of just the tail.

Re: The Cobra Effect

#23

Post by plonh » Fri, Oct 02, 2015, 3:48 AM UTC

wtbob wrote: post #16

mikeash wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The typical response to this sort of chart is something like: the welfare state is destroying the family unit! But I look at this graph and I think: wow, there must have been a ton of people stuck in unhappy marriages before, who could now have better choices.

> But I look at this graph and I think: wow, there must have been a ton of people stuck in unhappy marriages before, who could now have better choices. But at what cost to society, those around them and perhaps even themselves? There are worse things than being in an unhappy marriage!

Unhappy marriage is a poor euphemism for neglect, abuse, beating.

Re: The Cobra Effect

#24

Post by setpatchaddress » Fri, Oct 02, 2015, 5:14 AM UTC

nateabele wrote: post #21

jfoutz wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know right? Can you imagine how bad it would be if the department of defense wanted some sort of packet switched communication system that would survive a nuclear war? Geez, we really got lucky there.

No... not exactly. It's interesting that you pick that one, because Alan Kay talks at length about this subject (poke around YouTube and you can find clips if you're interested). Most of that tech came about because there was a lot of paranoia, a lot of money, and not a lot of good ideas. So they took the money and threw it at universities and research labs, without very many strings attached. Once it started to look…

I know, right? Can you imagine how bad it would be if the department of defense blew a big wad of cash for a limited period of time on some sort of packet switched communication system that would survive a nuclear war? Geez, we really got lucky there.

Re: The Cobra Effect

#25

Post by digi_owl » Fri, Oct 02, 2015, 7:16 AM UTC

simonh wrote: post #6

Housing policy in Britain is a bit like this. Houses in Britain are so expensive that many people are priced out of the market. So the government offers tax breaks and cheap loans to first time buyers. This means first time buyers can afford to offer more money to purchase a house, bidding against each other and driving house prices even higher. This has been going on for decades, but they still do it because there a…

Same has been going on in Norway since the 80s.

Graphing household debt and housing prices show them basically moving in lockstep.

Re: The Cobra Effect

#26

Post by greatthanks » Fri, Oct 02, 2015, 9:13 AM UTC

NRA requesting to equip more people with weapons to prevent shootings.

Re: The Cobra Effect

#27

Post by wtbob » Fri, Oct 02, 2015, 11:57 AM UTC

plonh wrote: post #23

wtbob wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But I look at this graph and I think: wow, there must have been a ton of people stuck in unhappy marriages before, who could now have better choices. But at what cost to society, those around them and perhaps even themselves? There are worse things than being in an unhappy marriage!

Unhappy marriage is a poor euphemism for neglect, abuse, beating.

That's true of many unhappy marriage, but not all (unless one stretches 'neglect' and 'abuse' beyond all meaning: if a husband puts on 200 pounds, he couldn't blame his wife for not being attracted to him).

There's a huge difference between abusive and unhappy.

Re: The Cobra Effect

#28

Post by mikeash » Fri, Oct 02, 2015, 2:20 PM UTC

wtbob wrote: post #16

mikeash wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The typical response to this sort of chart is something like: the welfare state is destroying the family unit! But I look at this graph and I think: wow, there must have been a ton of people stuck in unhappy marriages before, who could now have better choices.

> But I look at this graph and I think: wow, there must have been a ton of people stuck in unhappy marriages before, who could now have better choices. But at what cost to society, those around them and perhaps even themselves? There are worse things than being in an unhappy marriage!

I have no idea what the cost to society is. I don't even know if there is a cost. Allowing people to leave bad marriages sounds like a gain to society for me. Do you know the costs?