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I've been thinking about *why* this is true, and I might have an explanation. Basically, I think it comes down to a confusion between terminal goals ("the things we ultimately want") and our strategies for achieving them...
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Rhetorical tip: you can often frame either side of a debate as being individualist or collectivist. Example: "Instead of worrying so much about our individual safety, we should focus more on our collective need to have a rich and enjoyable shared life that's worth living for"
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This is a very instrumental way of looking at it. IME, individualism/collectivism is not primarily about means-ends reasoning. They are identity primitives. Ways of constructing who you are. How they are reconciled with instrumentally rational behaviors is a derived construct
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What would the individualism/collectivism-as-identity explanation look like? For any goal you're going to find people with an individualist orientation and people with and a collectivist orientation who have that goal, and so they'll find different ways to express it?
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Take “not littering” for eg. People might explain exact same behavior as: - I’m being a good citizen - Cleanliness is next to godliness - I’m responding to incentives to maximize my utility - I’m playing Nash equilibrium strategy - I’m imitating others - It’s a mindless habit
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I’m starting with observable behavior as the truth-ground rather than stated goals or motives Phenomenology —> revealed preferences —> actual motivational structure (including identity affirmation)
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