RSA Animate: The Truth About Dishonesty
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Are you more honest than a banker? Under what circumstances would you lie, or cheat, and what effect does your deception have on society at large? Dan Ariely, one of the world's leading voices on human motivation and behaviour is the latest big thinker to get the RSA Animate treatment.
Taken from a lecture given at the RSA in July 2012 . Watch the longer talk here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGGxguJsirI
The RSA is a 258 year-old charity devoted to driving social progress and spreading world-changing ideas. For more information about the RSA, visit http://www.thersa.org
Taken from a lecture given at the RSA in July 2012 . Watch the longer talk here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGGxguJsirI
The RSA is a 258 year-old charity devoted to driving social progress and spreading world-changing ideas. For more information about the RSA, visit http://www.thersa.org
Sep 15, 2012 12:55 AM
Re: RSA Animate: The Truth About Dishonesty
Cool research, but I can't help but feel that he makes claims that go beyond what the research suggests and that he offers little in terms of ..uh.. practical suggestions.
As an aside, a few weeks ago some Indian government official got into trouble for telling government employees that stealing is okay, as long as it's just a little. Corruption is rampant in India.
As an aside, a few weeks ago some Indian government official got into trouble for telling government employees that stealing is okay, as long as it's just a little. Corruption is rampant in India.
By: wadadde
Re: RSA Animate: The Truth About Dishonesty
He probably did, but I enjoyed this because it starts to describe the phenomenon I call "moral interference," where the more separated we are from the actual decision, the greater the creative/destructive feedback effects of slight differences in moral norms/tolerances.
This is the problem I have with, for example, mutual funds, especially the indexed ones, where the only goal of the fund is to match the overall market. The investment vehicle has allowed for "lazy stockholders" who don't know what they're invested in, and thus are (effectively) shielded from the ethical decisions of the myriad of individual institutions. As supply chains grow longer and more complex, or more international and less transparent, the larger the possible deviation from the moral "tolerances" of the original shareholder/customer.
This video adds the interesting "screw it, in for a penny, in for a pound" dimension that again asks what is the role of the investor/customer/stakeholder in prescribing, monitoring, and enforcing/turning around ethical behavior along the corporate (and governmental, for that matter) decision chains.
I need to keep this short, but I think one way is to crowd-source funds management, eliminating the Vanguard financial adviser hocus pocus and creating a work-divided research center for inclusion/exclusion of a company in a common fund or set of common funds. Different funds could offer conformity to different guidelines/thresholds, and companies could be democratically voted in or out at a certain time/times of the year. It would basically be a wikipedia for public stocks that would include info on all publicly traded companies and a set of funds that would be managed by some sort of investment company (probably a nonprofit, but it doesn't have to be) in compliance with voted-upon fund pools.
TL;DR: People are dishonest, and long chains of dishonesty amplify this effect. I want to crowdsource research to achieve transparency, removing the psychological defensive barriers that nebulous mutual funds currently provide.
This is the problem I have with, for example, mutual funds, especially the indexed ones, where the only goal of the fund is to match the overall market. The investment vehicle has allowed for "lazy stockholders" who don't know what they're invested in, and thus are (effectively) shielded from the ethical decisions of the myriad of individual institutions. As supply chains grow longer and more complex, or more international and less transparent, the larger the possible deviation from the moral "tolerances" of the original shareholder/customer.
This video adds the interesting "screw it, in for a penny, in for a pound" dimension that again asks what is the role of the investor/customer/stakeholder in prescribing, monitoring, and enforcing/turning around ethical behavior along the corporate (and governmental, for that matter) decision chains.
I need to keep this short, but I think one way is to crowd-source funds management, eliminating the Vanguard financial adviser hocus pocus and creating a work-divided research center for inclusion/exclusion of a company in a common fund or set of common funds. Different funds could offer conformity to different guidelines/thresholds, and companies could be democratically voted in or out at a certain time/times of the year. It would basically be a wikipedia for public stocks that would include info on all publicly traded companies and a set of funds that would be managed by some sort of investment company (probably a nonprofit, but it doesn't have to be) in compliance with voted-upon fund pools.
TL;DR: People are dishonest, and long chains of dishonesty amplify this effect. I want to crowdsource research to achieve transparency, removing the psychological defensive barriers that nebulous mutual funds currently provide.
Re: RSA Animate: The Truth About Dishonesty
Who else is thinking along these lines? To the extent that I understand it, it sounds pretty interesting, but I've had ideas that seem awesome to me that nobody else seems to be interested in... These aren't going anywhere anytime soon.
I suspect that a financial instrument that's not as unambiguously tuned to be as efficient/profitable for investors as alternative (perhaps the existing) instruments isn't going to turn out to be a big winner. If I understand correctly, you're championing a system that's potentially sub-optimal from a purely financial perspective. That would be a tough sell.
I suspect that a financial instrument that's not as unambiguously tuned to be as efficient/profitable for investors as alternative (perhaps the existing) instruments isn't going to turn out to be a big winner. If I understand correctly, you're championing a system that's potentially sub-optimal from a purely financial perspective. That would be a tough sell.
By: wadadde
Re: RSA Animate: The Truth About Dishonesty
I haven't seen anyone else so far, but dummy me keeps bringing it up in places like this where few people give a shit. It would be a hard sell, both because it would be "work" and because it removes the "don't ask, don't tell" security blanket that people have wrapped around themselves under the current model.
The financial advantage to this plan is that crowdsourcing largely replaces the financial advisory fees that get tacked on to other mutual funds. Is that enough to overcome the profit advantage of third-world slave labor? Probably not, and social index funds have generally been failures, both because of loose qualification rules and because they never received a large enough capital base to be meaningful from a corporate change perspective.
I'm still early in this idea, but I'm liking the direction so far. Paths to moral capitalism are...rough, and removing friction from adoption is a big part of the problem. Thanks for the interest. Maybe this will motivate me to formalize a plan for some meaty discussion somewhere else.
The financial advantage to this plan is that crowdsourcing largely replaces the financial advisory fees that get tacked on to other mutual funds. Is that enough to overcome the profit advantage of third-world slave labor? Probably not, and social index funds have generally been failures, both because of loose qualification rules and because they never received a large enough capital base to be meaningful from a corporate change perspective.
I'm still early in this idea, but I'm liking the direction so far. Paths to moral capitalism are...rough, and removing friction from adoption is a big part of the problem. Thanks for the interest. Maybe this will motivate me to formalize a plan for some meaty discussion somewhere else.
Re: RSA Animate: The Truth About Dishonesty
Wow! This is truly some of the most intelligent conversation I have ever seen on the M&K site. I'm very impressed. I am a four year business grad in business and I absolutely yearn for this kind of interaction among people who understand what is going on in the financial community. There is no easy answer to the current financial problems we have today. But, this kind of intellectual interaction certainly will help drive us to a better understanding of what solutions will help us in the long term. Is more regulation or less regulation the answer? Who knows. The important issue is to keep looking for a solution that benefits the greater good. The lower 97 percent. Even though the upper 3 percent control the law of the land, no different than the days of old.
I think the best solution is ongoing college education among as many people in the population as possible. We are achieving that at a growth rate of about, from what I have read, twelve percent at year.
Yes, as time progresses the banking industry is getting more and more complex. And it will continue to.
Eventually the common man will rise and say "enough." You bankers have squandered away more than you should have and we demand some positive results for the working man.
History will repeat itself. It always does.
I think the best solution is ongoing college education among as many people in the population as possible. We are achieving that at a growth rate of about, from what I have read, twelve percent at year.
Yes, as time progresses the banking industry is getting more and more complex. And it will continue to.
Eventually the common man will rise and say "enough." You bankers have squandered away more than you should have and we demand some positive results for the working man.
History will repeat itself. It always does.
By: hmonroe
