TED2009: Barry Schwartz
An interesting TED 2009 talk by Barry Schwartz, a psychologist ostensibly analying "the financial crisis" and speaking about "a society gone mad with bureaucracy". Some quotes I wrote while watching: 08:50: ``Moral skill is chipped away by an over-reliance on rules''.
08:59: ``Moral will is undermined by an incessant appeal to incentives that destroy our desire to do the right thing
10:20: ``We know why these scripts [word-by-word teaching outlines for kindergarden etc] are there; we don't trust the judgement of teachers enough to let them loose on their own. Scrips like these are insurance policies against disaster. And: they prevent disaster! ...but what they assure in its place is mediocrity''
12:55: ``Excessive reliance on incentives de-moralizes professional activity''