Saying “everyone is equally to blame” is great if you want to sound reasonable and paint yourself as a moderate voice in a debate, but it doesn’t really work if you actually want to be correct.
From a commenter called “ThisIsMyRealName” over at Slate
I don’t think that’s quite right. Assigning blame isn’t about being correct. It’s about figuring out how to prevent the problem from being repeated. Once you know who is at fault and how, you know what to warn them not to do in order to keep it from being repeated.
As blame is a social construct that can be used to modify behavior and status, blame assignment can be a constructive way of preventing unwanted consequenses. At least in part.
From a commenter called “ThisIsMyRealName” over at Slate
See also Pretending to Be Wise.
I don’t think that’s quite right. Assigning blame isn’t about being correct. It’s about figuring out how to prevent the problem from being repeated. Once you know who is at fault and how, you know what to warn them not to do in order to keep it from being repeated.
Even still, saying everyone is equally to blame doesn’t actually figure out how to prevent the problem from being repeated.
It’s also about counter-factually preventing the problem, UDT-style.
As blame is a social construct that can be used to modify behavior and status, blame assignment can be a constructive way of preventing unwanted consequenses. At least in part.
Then again negative reinforcement doesn’t work quite as well as positive reinforcement, and is sometimes counterproductive?
The Power of Reinforcement
It implies that in there all over the place but never outright states it.
EDIT: Assuming that blame is being used as operent conditioning, which is the impression I got.