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Many Swiss farmers use honor system to sell their products

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Re: Many Swiss farmers use honor system to sell their products

#82
post #8

As a Swiss guy, I must say I only see this in rural areas. It wouldn't work in big cities like Geneva I think (too many people living in urban areas who don't respect our wonderful country and that's a shame).

I live in Zurich (biggest city in Switzerland), and know of several such installations in the city itself. "Cities" in Switzerland are really not that urban ;-)

Re: Many Swiss farmers use honor system to sell their products

#83
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, and the next logical question would be: what has changed in Geneva these past 30 years? Hints: individualism, globalization, multiculturalism. My father told me that when he served for our national army back then, soldiers just left their weapons alone in front of the train station while they were having a coffee before going into the train.

IS "globalization" and "multiculturalism" just euphimisms of "Those damn non-white people!"?

Different people have different honor systems, different cultures.

Trick or treat? https://imgur.com/KJvJgT2

Re: Many Swiss farmers use honor system to sell their products

#84
post #8

As a Swiss guy, I must say I only see this in rural areas. It wouldn't work in big cities like Geneva I think (too many people living in urban areas who don't respect our wonderful country and that's a shame).

> too many people living in urban areas who don't respect our wonderful country

I think people from lots of different countries feel that way. There’s something about being connected to the land that gives one a love for both the land and the human culture connected to it. That connection to the land is easily lost in urban environments.

Re: Many Swiss farmers use honor system to sell their products

#85

The book "Freakonomics" details a similar bagel-selling system, where they would put bagels in the break room of workplaces, and you would pay on the honor system. After years of collecting data, the owner realized he had been doing a real-time, real-life experiment on how honest people are. You don't know WHO took without paying, but you can tell HOW MANY of your bagels were paid for. There's analysis of how it vari…

Mind telling tthe findings? :-)

tl;dr Most people are generally honest, and act accordingly. A few people will consistently take advantage of the system, which slightly lowers the average.

Re: Many Swiss farmers use honor system to sell their products

#87

The book "Freakonomics" details a similar bagel-selling system, where they would put bagels in the break room of workplaces, and you would pay on the honor system. After years of collecting data, the owner realized he had been doing a real-time, real-life experiment on how honest people are. You don't know WHO took without paying, but you can tell HOW MANY of your bagels were paid for. There's analysis of how it vari…

Mind telling tthe findings? :-)

From memory, one thing that surprised me was holidays. Thefts decrease in the days before a holiday that's basically just a day off for most people, but thefts increase in the days before a holiday that has a strong tradition for getting together with the extended family.

Re: Many Swiss farmers use honor system to sell their products

#88
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, and the next logical question would be: what has changed in Geneva these past 30 years? Hints: individualism, globalization, multiculturalism. My father told me that when he served for our national army back then, soldiers just left their weapons alone in front of the train station while they were having a coffee before going into the train.

IS "globalization" and "multiculturalism" just euphimisms of "Those damn non-white people!"?

I don't mean that at all! I am simply suggesting that mixing multiple cultures, religions and belief systems is harmful to the identity and the self-trust of a nation.

For example, in my city, they are building new pavements. They are building them high enough so a crazy Islamic guy can't run into pedestrians with his car (like one did in France and in Germany).

As a Swiss citizen, I have the right to say I am not happy with that without being accused of racism!

Of course you are welcome here if you are intelligent and respectful (like all the US people I have met here).

Re: Many Swiss farmers use honor system to sell their products

#89
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Geneva thirty years ago there were newspapers for sale on the street using this system.

Yes, and the next logical question would be: what has changed in Geneva these past 30 years? Hints: individualism, globalization, multiculturalism. My father told me that when he served for our national army back then, soldiers just left their weapons alone in front of the train station while they were having a coffee before going into the train.

IMO: it has to do with the number of repeat interactions you will have with people.

When you interact more than twice with the same people, Game Theory says it is better to act honorably. At 2 interactions it is roughly balanced, and with a single interaction it is better (as an individual) to cheat. These assume balanced payoff/penalty, but changing the penalty only works to a certain extent and humans are very bad at evaluating the payoff of low-risk high-penalty actions, essentially becoming used to the risk after a while as they learn from repeated actions that they don't get caught (until they do).

So, the question is why repeat interactions have gone down. I guess larger communities, and better transport means just in terms of regular day-to-day you don't have many repeat interactions, and this changes mindsets of people inclined to crime in terms of what they think they can get away with, at least to start with.

It also explains to some extent the distrust small communities have to strangers, where they are not used to living with that regular stranger-danger that people in cities constantly deal with.

Re: Many Swiss farmers use honor system to sell their products

#90
post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Other hints: increased population, increased levels of education, more flavors of ice cream available...

Foreigners now account for 80% of the prison population in Switzerland: https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2019/02/08/foreigners-make-... IQ scores are falling and have been for decades, new study finds: https://www.sciencealert.com/iq-scores-falling-in-worrying-r... https://brainstats.com/average-iq-by-country.html

Please note that the falling IQ has nothing to do with the foreigners, at least not according to the linked study; IQ is going down even within families.
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