People can be tortured to create a lower set point on the hedonic treadmill. This allows for far more overall utility.
I wonder if this reasoning might be related to the longevity of the boarding school institution as implemented by early 20th century Britain, or of other similarly unpleasant forms of institutionalized child… I’m not sure I want to call it “abuse”, but at least systematic deprivation.
Or of hazing or initiation ordeals in general, really.
I read once that when looking at the childhoods of people who are high up in industry or otherwise notable, there’s a larger than expected fraction of childhoods scarred by abuse or neglect; which says interesting things to me about means and variances and societally optimal amounts of abuse. But I’ve never been able to refind the essay...
I wonder if this reasoning might be related to the longevity of the boarding school institution as implemented by early 20th century Britain, or of other similarly unpleasant forms of institutionalized child… I’m not sure I want to call it “abuse”, but at least systematic deprivation.
Or of hazing or initiation ordeals in general, really.
I’ve always thought of those sorts of institutions to largely be the result of path dependence.
I read once that when looking at the childhoods of people who are high up in industry or otherwise notable, there’s a larger than expected fraction of childhoods scarred by abuse or neglect; which says interesting things to me about means and variances and societally optimal amounts of abuse. But I’ve never been able to refind the essay...