Ryan Murphy thinks people don't like fracking because it proves peak oil wrong.
Seriously.
Ryan fascinates me with his conspiratorial pirouettes. On the one hand he is not like a lot of other libertarians/Austrians (is he an Austrian? It's like Gene Callahan... I'm not even sure!). He does not fall into the common dumb conspiratorial fantasies.
But then he makes up his own, completely original conspiratorial fantasies about things like fracking or peoples' reaction to behavioral economics or to food! Come to think of it, they all revolve around why Ryan thinks other people think the things that he's convinced himself they think!
Thursday, December 27, 2012
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Accusing people of motivated reasoning is not the same thing as a conspiracy theory.
ReplyDeleteIt's much less of a conspiracy theory than, say, this: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/21/opinion/krugman-playing-taxes-hold-em.html
(also, when have I done this with behavioral economics?)
Maybe it was evolutionary psychology... I thought you said something about why liberals don't like it (I didn't know at the time it was something they allegedly don't like). I'm just poking you :)
DeleteI had a long explanation of how you were being ironically conspiratorial, but that didn't even make sense to me so I didn't publish it.
Would it make you feel better if I had said "Polanyi acolytes" instead of "These (not all) environmentalists"? In the post, I was agreeing with the environmentalist, only taking it further. The people he mentions in the Slate article are nuts.
DeleteThere is a group of people in the Western world (don't tell me they don't exist, I've met them) who prioritize the world this way-
1. The modern world is awful we should all get back to nature and stop consuming processed food sold by corporations.
2. The modern world is awful we should all get back to nature and stop consuming processed food sold by corporations.
3. The modern world is awful we should all get back to nature and stop consuming processed food sold by corporations.
Peak oil was the "scientific" narrative from 5-10 years ago proving how that world outlook is correct. When the "science" was proved wrong, the simplest answer to is to demonize whatever provides evidence against the science. So fracking becomes personified death.
I don't think this is a common viewpoint, but I did meet a couple of people who indeed thought that fracking was a terrible thing because it depressed fossil fuel prices and retarded the switch over to renewable energy sources.
DeleteOf course fracking demonstrates peak oil by providing a means of recovery only economic at prices not much lower than current.
DeleteRegarding evolutionary psychology, the wiki article on the criticism is fine: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_evolutionary_psychology
ReplyDeleteThe primary ridiculous charge against evolutionary psychology from the left is that it "justifies rape." People actually say these things.
I'd say that Gene is still mostly Austrian in practice, though he's still searching. Obviously, he rejects libertarianism. As for Ryan, I have no clue.
ReplyDeleteTo say that monopoly power-centers based upon violence (libertarianism), that people will seek their own best interest (Austrianism), and that these things coupled together tends to yield bad things, doesn't sound much like "dumb conspiratorial fantasy", it sounds like common sense.
Come to think of it, they all revolve around why Ryan thinks other people think the things that he's convinced himself they think!
ReplyDeleteSounds like Daniel is coming up with theories explaining why someone on the Internet disagrees with him.