Today I learned about the birth -- and death -- of Friendster (the first online social network of which I was an early user) and how the classic VC start-up route isn't always the best. In some ways the system is rigged against success for entrepreneurs. And as the story shows, trying to get too many experts (and their egos!) to work together can destroy a great idea.
I also read about the unintended consequences of incentives, how they can dismantle existing social norms and lead to perverse outcomes (I never tire of the example about the late pick-up fee at day care). As a teacher, the author wonders: is this the kind of environment we want to create in our classrooms? I think not. And I think the general ideas are applicable in any situation where we're where trying to change behaviors -- we have to be very careful about the incentive structures we're putting in place and from the very beginning try to consider what sort of long-term ramifications there might be of our actions.
as someone who just recently learned the results of the milgram experiments (including the original control and the rest), i wonder how our "incentives" actually function as tools to teach obedience to authority. how can we structure education in a way that it moves away from teaching obedience and toward actual teaching?
ReplyDeleteInteresting question, Sara. My first thought upon reading it is about early childhood education & socialization. In that case it's not so much about obedience as it is about learning social norms and expectations -- laying the foundations for the social structures that ultimately get undermined by incentives later. But maybe that's not at all what you were getting at :P
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