re: #16 ralphieboy

And we will need a breakthrough in psychology and sociology: building houses a bit smaller, putting less money into marble countertops and gilt faucets and more into insulation and recapturing waste water/heat.

True. I got depressed on the bus this morning on the way over, because of that.

There is one simple rule on the bus that, if followed, would make everything go pretty smoothly: Move to the back of the bus. There are obvious penalties for not doing so— people pushing past you.

And yet, most people do not move to the back of the bus. They get to some random point and stop, and when you do ask to move past them, they glare at you like you just sat down on their desk and started making fart noises with your hands.

One simple rule, and people can’t bring themselves to follow it. And I can’t even understand why.

I think the most significant challenge facing us today is figuring out that sort of instruction delivery; how to have it actually followed. Simple self-interest won’t do it, since those people are all acting contrary to their own self-interest.