Essays

Programming Politics

In my "real job" I teach computer science. One of the most amazing things to me is that, as many years of practice as I have, I can still write a 15 line program and it will do something I don't expect. This is true despite the fact that (1) my program is governed purely by logic, (2) I know everything there is to know about the program, and (3) the relevant amount of logic is short and simple. Naturally, I've learned to be skeptical of my constructs. I test them every way I can, knowing that whatever I don't test will likely behave in a way I didn't foresee.

Now, let's contrast this with any political issue I might have an opinion on. (1) The issues are not governed only by logic (maybe not at all!); (2) I know only a tiny fraction about the issue in question, no matter how much I study. Worse, almost every source I'm likely to consult is actively trying to persuade me to think a certain way. (3) The issue is never simple. In fact, it's likely more complex than I can imagine. Take any law that I might be tempted to be outraged by. Even if I read all the text and understood all the effects of the riders, etc., I would probably need a litigator's experience to know what it means in practice--and even then I might miss something.

Logically, if I compare these two situations, I am forced to recognize the conclusion that I should not trust *any* of my political opinions about anything. And I don't. What's interesting to me, however, is that my emotions tell me I'm right.

For this reason and others, I tend not to voice my political opinions on the internet--even though I'm sure I'm right and I'm outraged by the people on the other side. They're all wrong.

Well, enough for now. Duty calls...

https://xkcd.com/386/