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Burch's Law — LessWrong

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"I think people should have a right to be stupid and, if they have that right, the market's going to respond by supplying as much stupidity as can be sold." Greg Burch was speaking about sport-utility vehicles, which he feels are very poorly designed. Note that Burch was not advocating banning SUVs. Burch did not even advocate regulating SUVs. Burch thinks people should have a right to be stupid. But Burch also openly acknowledges the real-world consequence of that right, which is that the market will respond by supplying as much stupidity as can be sold. Perhaps Burch is strongly libertarian, and sees the case against regulation as a slam-dunk regardless of the consequences, and therefore has an easier time acknowledging the downside of his policy. Or perhaps Burch is just a skillful rationalist. Either way, I hereby canonize his observation as Burch's Law. Burch's Law is a special case of a more general rule: Just because your ethics require an action doesn't mean the univers

x Burch's Law — LessWrong Ethics & Morality World Optimization Frontpage 66 Burch's Law by Eliezer Yudkowsky 8th Mar 2007 2 min read 28 66 Greg Burch said: "I think people should have a right to be stupid and, if they have that right, the market's going to respond by supplying as much stupidity as can be sold." Greg Burch was speaking about sport-utility vehicles, which he feels are very poorly designed. Note that Burch was not advocating banning SUVs. Burch did not even advocate regulating SUVs. Burch thinks people should have a right to be stupid. But Burch also openly acknowledges the real-

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