The Economics of Ideas

The concept:

Whether an idea is commonly supported, well researched, etc., doesn't always tell you very much about it's truth.

What that tells you is that someone finds that idea profitable.

The explanation:

I have a friend who is a New York Yankees fan. However, when the New York Yankees win the world series, he doesn't bother to call and brag. He knows what I would say.

I would say, "so what? They outspend almost everyone. It takes more than that to impress me."

The funny thing is that I feel the same way about ideas. There is a "degree of difficulty" which I place on any new information I come across. This degree of difficulty tells me how to react to it.

In politics, my thinking works like this:

The court of public opinion is much like a regular court. Each side in a debate, or point of view, finds an intelligent speaker to present their point of view.

Much like a court of law, those with more money hire more people and better speakers to present their case.

Unlike a court of law, there is no requirement that both sides get to speak. On tv, those without the ability and desire to pay, don't speak.

Therefore

Since there is more money to be made by arguing for the interests of the wealthy than there is in arguing for justice, fairness, and empathy, those arguments will be made more often in public.

Since there is more money to be made researching ideas that support the powerful, ideas that support the powerful will be studied more often, and supported by more data.

Examples:
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