Scott Alexander examines self-serving bias and status quo defense using Oregon's gas station law change, arguing for better rational debate skills to navigate societal changes.
Longer summary
This post discusses the self-serving bias through the lens of Oregon's recent law allowing self-service gas stations in some areas, which sparked outrage among some Oregonians. Scott Alexander uses this example to explore how people tend to defend the status quo and view changes as potentially catastrophic, even when those changes are normal elsewhere. He extends this idea to various fields, including medicine, child-rearing practices, and social norms. The post argues that we often rely on intuitions about absurdity to make judgments, but these intuitions can vary greatly between cultures and even states. Scott suggests that this reliance on intuition is concerning because it means that if something loses its 'protective coating of absurdity,' we must resort to rational debate to defend it - a process our society isn't particularly good at. He concludes by encouraging readers to apply the same level of scrutiny to their own beliefs that they would expect from Oregonians questioning their gas station laws.
Shorter summary