From time to time, and daily if the site becomes robust enough, I will post a quote or a thought, and leave it to participants to discuss either it, or whatever they choose.
Today’s quote comes from John Maynard Keynes:
Men will do the rational thing, but only after exploring all other alternatives.
Leaving aside the sexism of the phrasing, what I love about this quote is the subtle combination of cynicism and idealism. We do “the rational thing” in the aggregate and in the long run (idealism), but not individually and in the short run (cynicism). My suggestion for a topic of conversation is this: What have we accomplished that is rational, and what are we doing that isn’t? Try to find the long-term trends that we should honor and reinforce, and the short-term tendencies that we should be aware of.
