[ExI] Inevitability of the Singularity (was Re: To Max, re Natasha and Extropy (Kevin Haskell)

[BillK]

2011/7/12 Stefano Vaj wrote:
> Economics tells us that economic subjects behave "rationally" (or at least
> according to game theory and if taken in large enough numbers) in maximising
> their own interests and preferences.
>
> But it does not imply in the least that such interests are "rational" in any
> plausible sense of the word (btw, even the accumulation of exchange units,
> that is money, may be plausibly considered as irrational in certain
> contexts).
>

That's the main fault in traditional economics. Investors don't behave
the way the theory says they should. Investors are more like herds of
lemmings, piling in to bubbles, fashions and current fads.
The wisdom of crowds only applies in very specific circumstances where
the voters do not know each other's estimates and are not subject to
peer pressure.


Either the theory is wrong or people are.  I suspect the latter.   ;)


BillK