Sai

Hi, I'm Sai, and I'm a second year. I'm not really sure what I'm doing in this class, but I'm here because I'm starting to get sick of the speed with which the world is deteriorating and I'm developing the "sense of impending doom" that psychiatrists associate with clinical depression, but evidence suggests that I'm right to feel this way. And I'm sick of the crippling paralysis that comes with a lack of information. Like, when I'm in a public bathroom, I don't know whether I'm supposed to use the paper towel dispenser or the electric hand dryer. Does the damage caused by producing paper waste outweight the energy consumption of the heat-dryer? Should I just wipe my hands on my jeans and be done with it?

I'm not an economist, but in law school I spent a lot of time studying the regulatory system (the underlying policy of legislation; how the regulatory state actually gets people to do what it wants), and I've come to believe that incentive-based systems that take into account the weirdness of human psychology (self-interest, "cognitive dissonance", etc.) are the most effective ways to get people to do what you want/need them to. Carrots, I think, are more effective than sticks.

The book I'll be reviewing is Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage by Heather Rogers.

My final project for the class, tentatively titled "Happy Meat," can be found here.