[LMB] Dark Beta is slipping under the radar

[Rachel Ganz]

The first analogy that pops into my head is seatbelt wearing. Everybody 
here does it automatically, feels naked without one, etc. But not so 
many years ago nobody wore them, and some people were upset with the 
idea of the government enforcing the wearing of the seatbelt.

If something is a good idea, I don't really see anything wrong with its 
becoming part of our culture and habit. Of course, there's always the 
argument that there's no such thing as a universally good idea, but it 
seems to me that things that are BAD ideas would have a much harder time 
becoming habits of an entire population.


One of the unexpected side-issues with seatbelts is the conseuquences to pedestrians. When drivers feel safer, they take more risks, so they're more likely to injure pedestrians and cyclists. Drivers also drive closer to cyclists with helmets, than cyclists without.
Not that I'd get rid of seatbelt wearing, but one of the issues about making something automatic is that one starts forgetting that it has the defects of its qualities.
I read an interesting argument in favour of nepotism recently - a thought that is so alien to our currently accepted beliefs that it is veering towards dark Beta.
Nepotism is of course, very successful on Barrayar. How would you get a job on Beta?
Rachel

Brevity, clarity and cups of tea