This week I listened to Professor Goodman's interview of Ned Hal about the intersection of psychology and prediction. One thing that I found really interesting about the interview was Ned's breakdown of what needs to happen in order for climate change to be properly dealt with. Professor Goodman had the initial impression that people would be more motivated to change their habits in an effort to mitigate climate change. However, Ned provided the very salient example of recycling bins and its widespread adoption to demonstrate that the key to motivating climate-related change is to design useful policies and encourage their adoption via social norming. When I heard him say that I thought it was too simple but upon further reflection, I too believe that it is the most viable path to change. I think the difficulty of such a method comes with the need to reach consensus on both policy design and end-goals. I think that consensus can be reached but it requires a shift in thinking and maybe a more paternalistic approach to government.
One thing I wish Alyssa asked Ned was how he believes climate policy should be crafted so that we see widespread adoption. I agree with his general premise but would like to know more about his vision of its execution. In an increasingly polarized world, I think reaching a climate consensus will require a lot of thought and development so it would be good to hear Ned's thoughts on this. In addition, I wished Alyssa asked Ned about why people have such a hard time predicting the actual utility they might derive from future events. He brought up the great point that people can often see where their life is heading but often have no idea what these events will mean for their wellbeing.
https://www.labxchange.org/library/pathway/lx-pathway:53ffe9d1-bc3b-4730-abb3-d95f5ab5f954/items/lx-pb:53ffe9d1-bc3b-4730-abb3-d95f5ab5f954:lx_simulation:5e3f229f?source=%2Flibrary%2Fclusters%2Flx-cluster%3AModernPrediction