首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
考研
Lotteries are a regressive tax on those who can’ t do math, runs the famous old saying. "Nonsense!" retort critics. "For a dolla
Lotteries are a regressive tax on those who can’ t do math, runs the famous old saying. "Nonsense!" retort critics. "For a dolla
admin
2015-09-30
48
问题
Lotteries are a regressive tax on those who can’ t do math, runs the famous old saying. "Nonsense!" retort critics. "For a dollar, one can purchase the fantasy of being wealthy beyond dreams of avarice. It is cheap at the price. "
Over at Overcoming Bias, Eliezer Yudkowsky says "But isn’t that a waste of hope?" But consider exactly what this implies. It would mean that you’re occupying your valuable brain with a fantasy whose real probability is nearly zero a tiny line of likelihood which you, yourself, can do nothing to realize. The lottery balls will decide your future. The fantasy is of wealth that arrives without effort without conscientiousness, learning, charisma, or even patience.
Which makes the lottery another kind of sink: a sink of emotional energy. It encourages people to invest their dreams, their hopes for a better future, into an infinitesimal probability. If not for the lottery, maybe they would fantasize about going to technical school, or opening their own business, or getting a promotion at work—things they might be able to actually do, hopes that would make them want to become stronger. Their dreaming brains might, in the 20th visualization of the pleasant fantasy, notice a way to really do it. Isn’t that what dreams and brains are for? But how can such reality-limited fare compete with the artificially sweetened prospect of instant wealth not after herding a dot com startup through to IPO, but on Tuesday?
Seriously, why can’t we just say that buying lottery tickets is stupid? Human beings are stupid, from time to time - it shouldn’t be so surprising a hypothesis.
Unsurprisingly, the human brain doesn’t do 64-bit floating point arithmetic, and it can’t devalue the emotional force of a pleasant anticipation by a factor of 0. 00000001 without dropping the line of reasoning entirely. Unsurprisingly, many people don’t realize that a numerical calculation of expected utility ought to override or replace their imprecise financial instincts, and instead treat the calculation as merely one argument to be balanced against their pleasant anticipations an emotionally weak argument, since it’s made up of mere squiggles on paper, instead of visions of fabulous wealth.
This seems sufficient to explain the popularity of lotteries. Why do so many arguers feel impelled to defend this classic form of self-destruction?
This seems rather extreme. The human brain is wired to feel many irrational desires, like love, and the yearning to produce a squalling mess of an infant that will hoover up all your available cash, plus 10%, for the foreseeable future. We don’t try to edit those out. Given that the human being is irrationally unable to discount a potential pleasure down by the exact expected probability, shouldn’t we exploit this trait in order to cheaply produce large utility gains?
The supporters of lottery argue that______.
选项
A、it is a waste of hope to buy lottery to become rich
B、anyone can expect to become wealthy by buying lottery
C、it is inexpensive to fantasize being rich by buying lottery
D、only those who can’t do math waste their money on lottery
答案
C
解析
根据第一段中的“‘Nonsense!’retort critics.‘For a dollar,one can purchase the fantasy ofbeing wealthy beyond dreams of avarice.It is cheap at the price’”,C应为答案。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/pXzZ777K
0
考研英语一
相关试题推荐
Ithasbeennecessarytoreferrepeatedlytotheeffectsofthetwoworldwarsinpromotingallkindofinnovation.Itshouldbe
Ithasbeennecessarytoreferrepeatedlytotheeffectsofthetwoworldwarsinpromotingallkindofinnovation.Itshouldbe
Ithasbeennecessarytoreferrepeatedlytotheeffectsofthetwoworldwarsinpromotingallkindofinnovation.Itshouldbe
TheEconomistrecognizesthesetalentedpeoplethroughitsannualInnovationAwards,presentedinsixfields:bioscience,comput
TheEconomistrecognizesthesetalentedpeoplethroughitsannualInnovationAwards,presentedinsixfields:bioscience,comput
Browsethroughtheracksofdresses,skirts,andtopsinalmostanytrendyclothingstoreinfashion-savvyArgentina,andwhethe
______borninChicago,theauthorismostfamousforstoriesaboutNewYorkCity.
Asagiantofthestockmarket,Appleisunusual.Formuchofthepast20years,threecompanieshavealternatedintheroleof
Thatpeoplehavepersonalitiesgoeswithoutsaying.Petownerswillquicklyarguethattheiranimalshavepersonalitiestoo.Yet
Thatpeoplehavepersonalitiesgoeswithoutsaying.Petownerswillquicklyarguethattheiranimalshavepersonalitiestoo.Yet
随机试题
乳腺癌的病因包括:______;______;______;______;______;______,______等。
“元诗四大家”指__________、__________、__________、__________。虞集为“元诗四大家”之首。
对军团菌肺炎,以下说法正确的是
患者,女性,35岁,用力排便时,肛门有一肿物脱出,不能回缩,伴有疼痛,且便后肛门滴血,该患者患的是
非甾体抗炎药常见的不良反应是
(2008年真题)图6-52所示两水箱水位稳定,水面高差H=lOm,管径d=10cm,总长l=20m,沿程阻力系数λ=0.042,已知所有的转弯、阀门、进出口的局部损失合计为hj=3.2m。则通过管道的平均流速为()m/s。
下列选项中,属于会计人员职权的有()。
下列有关生命的物质基础和结构基础的阐述,正确的是()。
Iprefertocommunicatewithmycustomers______(通过写电子邮件而不是打电话).
以下作者曾获得过“茅盾文学奖”的有()。
最新回复
(
0
)