A Robin Hanson primer

Abstract

Robin Hanson is an economics professor associated with the loose organization of Masonomic bloggers. He argues that the simpler explanation of our likely cosmic isolation is that, if the opportunity to fill the universe arises, humans will be the only ones with such a chance for a billion light-years.  Futarchy, a concept articulated by Hanson, proposes that voting should be limited to defining national welfare, while market speculators decide which policies are expected to increase national welfare. Hanson claims that many of today’s social conflicts align with the divide between foragers and farmers—farmers valuing hierarchy and foragers valuing egalitarianism. Lastly, he introduces a self-deceptive element to human behavior, proposing that we deceive not only others but also ourselves to create positive impressions. – AI-generated abstract.