Frequently, people with difficult lives face emotional or cognitive constraints that do not bind people without their problems. Frequently, career and social difficulties are symptoms (in addition to being problems in their own right).
-
Show this thread
-
The trouble is compounded by a sort of double illegibility. Typically, a person who could use good advice does not understand that they are operating under a set of problematic constraints, or have a clear sense of what those constraints are, and so cannot explicate them.
5 replies 2 retweets 54 likesShow this thread -
From the other perspective, a potential advisor may have no idea that such a set of constraints might exist either abstractly (so how could they roll mitigation strategies into their advice?) or specifically (so why would they?).
1 reply 1 retweet 41 likesShow this thread -
Even supposing such constraints are clearly understood by both parties, there may not be an effective approach to handling them. Emotional instabilities, cognitive difficulties, and physical impairments are just extremely stubborn problems and we don't know what to do with them.
1 reply 2 retweets 45 likesShow this thread -
Whenever I come back to town for holidays, I get to meet up with my extended family. Some of them are doing very well for themselves and seem happy. Others are struggling, immensely. I'm glad to see all of them, but reuniting with the second group is generally painful for me.
1 reply 2 retweets 46 likesShow this thread -
When I look at their difficulties, they seem to ultimately stem from these internal factors. The "bad" decisions they've made are downstream of their emotional, cognitive, and social struggles. And it's brutal knowing that there's really nothing I can do to change these things.
4 replies 2 retweets 56 likesShow this thread -
This sort of experience makes me especially pessimistic about the possibility of government efforts to solve social problems. Treat symptoms? Sure. Getting food to people is easy and cheap. Housing and mental health care? Within limits. Day care for dependents? Schools, fine.
1 reply 3 retweets 44 likesShow this thread -
But I don't see any of this resolving what in my local society are basically a set of deep-seated and apparently mostly-heritable problems. No government program is going to accomplish more for these specific relatives than palliation.
3 replies 1 retweet 43 likesShow this thread -
That may be a noble cause, but I don't see welfare described as an ameliorant really ever. It's always a Solution. Outside of a few cases (where people would likely Succeed in any case) I just don't believe it is.
2 replies 1 retweet 38 likesShow this thread -
Replying to @eigenrobot
I don't know any liberals who think that implementing a Scandinavian-style welfare state will magically end mental illness, poor impulse control, and people generally being dumb.
1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
but we're going to Lift People Out Of Poverty with Education right? 
-
-
Replying to @eigenrobot
Back when education was not widely available, a lot of human potential went to waste. Now that it is widely available (in the rich countries anyway), the low-hanging benefits have been harvested and we're in diminishing marginal returns territory.
1 reply 0 retweets 1 like -
Replying to @EugeneIpavec @eigenrobot
Which is a long-winded way of saying "yes, but asymptotically slower than formerly."
0 replies 0 retweets 1 like
End of conversation
New conversation -
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.