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Overcoming Bias Commenter's avatar

Tying in to what you were saying about global warming, I wonder whether the effect works in reverse. Human behaviour does seem to have a strange relationship with causality; being confident leads you to stand up straighter, but standing up straighter leads you to feel more confident.

If cleanliness causes ethical behaviour, I wonder if people equate ethical behaviour causing cleaniness.

That would explain why environmentalists are so positive about limiting carbon emissions (the cleanliness of reducing carbon being a short hand for 'ethical') but so negative about geo-engineering (making the planet 'dirtier' can't be 'ethical') when both policies are intended to fight the same menace of global warming.

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Overcoming Bias Commenter's avatar

Maybe people were generous because they were less rational, because they were high on Windex fumes.

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