Our Very Rich Hours

January & New Years - Tres Riches Heures

"The upshot of all this is that you badly miscalculate the risk. You keep on chasing after the possibility of a big gain because you can't accept the prospect of a loss. Your emotions have sabotaged common sense."

Jonah Lehrer - How We Decide

Is common sense emotional? I once overheard that the two greatest motivations are sloth and fear. SOPA/PIPA proponents employ fear:

Mr. Dodd said Internet companies might well change Washington, but not necessarily for the better with their ability to spread their message globally without regulation or fact-checking.

"It's a new day," he added. "Brace yourselves."

(from nyt)

Were American consumers (we who depend upon free information to sustain our mindspace), motivated by sloth when they wrote their congresspeople? Or were they motivated by a fear of Orwellian creep? Ann makes a good point here - imagine these ignorant old legislators trying to do research without wiki, or trying to poll public opinion, or broadcast an effective campaign message without truly free information.

Most likely they don't know how to do any to this anyway, as all of this work is offloaded onto twenty-something pages in the belly of Washington DC.