tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225373.post2607137502211174758..comments2024-02-29T03:34:23.190-05:00Comments on Who Were the Sea Peoples?: Yes, Virginia, Groups Choosegcallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10065877215969589482noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225373.post-88418390654539349002014-03-04T18:30:15.170-05:002014-03-04T18:30:15.170-05:00"Isn't the point of MI that we can't ..."Isn't the point of MI that we can't differentiate between these two scenarios without understanding the motivations of the individuals?"<br /><br />Well, then, that claim would be false: note we can clearly detect group choice in animals without knowing their motivation. gcallahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10065877215969589482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225373.post-54315351736168677972014-03-04T17:59:40.794-05:002014-03-04T17:59:40.794-05:00"... unable to detect the difference between..."... unable to detect the difference between choosing to go to a movie and happening to find a number of your friends there, and choosing as a group, with your friends, to go to a movie"<br /><br />Isn't the point of MI that we can't differentiate between these two scenarios without understanding the motivations of the individuals? Not that there is no difference between the two, but that the group choice can only be perceived through the lens of the individual choice.<br /><br />Perhaps the gorillas wake up because all of that signaling is just too noisy to sleep through!Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02470489293820651609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225373.post-84502446632307070202014-03-04T16:04:45.739-05:002014-03-04T16:04:45.739-05:00oh, well the last 2 or 3 never got published - s...oh, well the last 2 or 3 never got published - seems unlikely they all just got lost but no big deal.robhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04682517711551179057noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225373.post-91196155808791926972014-03-04T15:16:13.273-05:002014-03-04T15:16:13.273-05:00Did you stop publishing my comments ?
Seems a bit...Did you stop publishing my comments ?<br /><br />Seems a bit harsh - but oh well.robhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04682517711551179057noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225373.post-39726129904058269682014-03-04T14:14:27.991-05:002014-03-04T14:14:27.991-05:00An excellent example is honeybees choosing a nesti...An excellent example is honeybees choosing a nesting site. It is clearly a decision, it is clearly made as a group, and it is not just all the bees independently thinking it out and coming to the same conclusion.<br />And it's not the queen deciding. It is the swarm deciding.Bobybuilderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07218089991533436881noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225373.post-28816782490732559902014-03-04T11:46:30.649-05:002014-03-04T11:46:30.649-05:00"But empirically, we can clearly differentiat..."But empirically, we can clearly differentiate between individual choices and group choices"<br /><br />Possibly, but you can also imagine grey areas where its not clear if its a group decision or just a collection of individual decisions. (For example: An informal arrangement to go out walking - some people show up and some don't).<br /><br />It seems more consistent to say "all decisions are individual decisions , but some decision have a greater 'group' element than others".<br /><br />than to say <br /><br />"all decisions can be broken into ether 'group decisions' or 'individual decisions' "<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />robhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04682517711551179057noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225373.post-50533042630705307812014-03-04T06:01:39.776-05:002014-03-04T06:01:39.776-05:00As an interesting sidenote... In "The Red Que...As an interesting sidenote... In "The Red Queen" Matt Ridley criticises Hayek (referring to "Law, Liberty and Legislation") for implying that society came into being once evolution had produced Humans. He points out that society or proto-societies exist in animals too and pre-dates humans.<br /><br />As you say, if you want to define choice as something very specific then the methodological individualist idea has merit. Economists think this way because for economic decisions it's often the most informative point-of-view.<br /><br />For example, if you were to ask the question "why do my colleagues and I all go to lunch at the same time", then a group explanation is more appropriate. If you were to ask "why are my colleagues and I all paid differently and all spend their money on different things" then the individual perspective is more useful.Currenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08645195276844244481noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225373.post-6793992467721972882014-03-04T02:08:09.667-05:002014-03-04T02:08:09.667-05:00"Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus."..."Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus."gcallahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10065877215969589482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225373.post-87033937981442345742014-03-04T01:47:15.829-05:002014-03-04T01:47:15.829-05:00Uh, who is Virginia? Virginia the state?Uh, who is Virginia? Virginia the state?Samson Corwellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10148822362930969284noreply@blogger.com