Scope insensitivity can be thought of as evolution’s solution to not getting Pascal’s mugged.
This could be true, but I don’t think it is and I think the difference is probably important.
Concern A: I’m just really skeptical that the ancestral environment gave people opportunity to be confronted with Big Numbers that needed to avoid getting mugged over.
Concern B: Scope insensitivity doesn’t kick in at 1000 people. It kicks in at… (drumroll)… two people. (i.e. we have studies where advertisements for donations for a single child make more money than advertisements for 2 children or 8)
This suggests something else is going on than simply numbers getting too big to count, and I think it’s more likely to have to do with how a strong a connection you feel with the recipient. (I notice I’m confused about why this should matter. My first guesses have something to do with how likely the recepient is to return the favor in some fashion)
My response would be that Concerns A and B answer each other. Scope insensitivity kicks in at two people, and two people happened in the ancestral enviornment all the time. The effect extending to a thousand is what happens when you implement a general solution.
Not that I think this is a complete list of benefits (or costs) of such a policy...
This could be true, but I don’t think it is and I think the difference is probably important.
Concern A: I’m just really skeptical that the ancestral environment gave people opportunity to be confronted with Big Numbers that needed to avoid getting mugged over.
Concern B: Scope insensitivity doesn’t kick in at 1000 people. It kicks in at… (drumroll)… two people. (i.e. we have studies where advertisements for donations for a single child make more money than advertisements for 2 children or 8)
This suggests something else is going on than simply numbers getting too big to count, and I think it’s more likely to have to do with how a strong a connection you feel with the recipient. (I notice I’m confused about why this should matter. My first guesses have something to do with how likely the recepient is to return the favor in some fashion)
My response would be that Concerns A and B answer each other. Scope insensitivity kicks in at two people, and two people happened in the ancestral enviornment all the time. The effect extending to a thousand is what happens when you implement a general solution.
Not that I think this is a complete list of benefits (or costs) of such a policy...
This sounds more like the handiwork of evolution to me.