1/
another small synthesis thread.
inputs:
* @St_Rev calling modern universities "madrasas"
* the economics concept of lottery professions, e.g. music, where 1 in a thousand makes big money https://www.litcharts.com/lit/freakonomics/chapter-3-why-do-drug-dealers-still-live-with-their-moms …
* David Friedman's "Legal Systems Very Different From Ours"
-
Show this thread
-
2/ https://www.amazon.com/Legal-Systems-Very-Different-Ours/dp/1793386722 … I'm reading the chapter on Chinese Confucian vs Legalist traditions. The Chinese narrative is that the Confucian ideal (law is about defining virtuous behavior) beat out the Legalist (law is about setting economic incentives to behave well).
3 replies 1 retweet 11 likesShow this thread -
3/ Friedman suggests that this is propaganda, and in fact a synthesis of the two schools has always ruled China. The Confucian system has a set of tests where anyone can study and then apply. Passing tests gives entrance to the civil service. One reads this and says "ah, IQ !"
1 reply 1 retweet 11 likesShow this thread -
4/ And that's part of it, and you also think "ah, subject mastery ; you study the law so as to get good at the law". But... no. The tests are actually on philosophy, art. etc. That's ... odd. What gives? Friedman says "studying for the tests serves as regime propaganda".
1 reply 2 retweets 10 likesShow this thread -
5/ So...aha! Here's my synthesis: The ancient Chinese civil service exam system was not only a way for select a civil service, it was a way to (a) create a "reserve army" of other candidates - this is exactly like prize / lottery economics, where every 1 Bruce Springsteen >
2 replies 4 retweets 20 likesShow this thread -
Ability was not enough. You had to be 'our kind of people' or able to effectively simulate the same.
1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes
thank you for echoing back my thesis
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.