Waves or Particles?
“You are the product of your own choices.”
“Your family makes a big difference in how you turn out.”
Which view are you more sympathetic to?
The first statement is related to hundreds of other statements, stories, images, songs, religious doctrines, and procedures that lean conservative & emphasize individual liberty & initiative.
The second statement is likewise related to an entire network of political & cultural agendas.
Both approaches are true in the sense that they are useful ways to approach the world.
For me, the most appropriate context for emphasizing the first statement & its attendant attitude is when I make decisions that mainly affect my own life. It makes me more productive, responsible, & happier to focus on how I am the master of my destiny. Nonetheless, it is also occasionally helpful to step back and reflect on the conditions that favor my productivity & happiness & then try to maximize those conditions. It would be silly to think my behavior is unaffected by the external world.
On the other hand, when it comes to public policy, it makes sense to me to focus on how modifiable conditions impact people’s performance & happiness. For example, we’ve known for fifty years that people are generally more productive with a 30 hour work week than they are with a 60 hour workweek.
The two frameworks are often quite different in terms of the sources of their evidence. I am immediately aware that factors like my “determination” and “concentration” impact my performance. I hear such a relationship referred to in nearly every sportscast of every sport. But I don’t rely on such banter. I feel it and know it directly.
On the other hand, the relationship between external factors and other people’s situations is probabilistic and hard to see. I largely rely on studies of such phenomena. I have to read such studies critically to know which ones to believe in and which ones are flawed. I don’t typically rely on a single study. And I also see how networks of studies relate to each other.
For instance, heavy metals in the environment are bad for brain development. I don’t think this because I listened to some guy on his podcast. I believe it because there are many such studies with many kinds of pollutants done over a long period of time by many investigators. Moreover, I understand why such heavy metals can cause problems. There are not only numerous correlational studies of humans; there are also laboratory studies using a wide variety of animals.
Waves or particles?
—————
How the nightingale learned to sing
petersironwood 