tree_ wrote:Maybe the government gives you a month to prepare, gives a pamphlet of detailed info on why this is important and with all procedures to follow, maybe provides access to a hazmat suit in case you must leave in the case of emergency, gather food and supplies and provide essentials to those who can't afford it, etc., and sets a date.
I'll just skip the economic stuff...
- i think you said something earlier about "reasonable people would do X". This comes from a quasi-religious belief that utilitarianism (the most good for the most people) is always the most reasonable position for an individual to take. It isn't. Most people aren't even effected by this disease.
- The government lies sometimes, so its reasonable to assume a percentage of the population, both reasonable and unreasonable, won't give a fuck about what the government says, no matter how detailed their pamphlet is.
- Cultural traits have positives and negatives (think of it like an RPG: race gets +2 for this, -1 for that...) What are the positives and negatives to a society that does whatever they are told by the government or trusts the "experts"? One positive is that they probably do better at managing epidemics. One negative is that they probably have the self defense capabilities of a moa who doesn't understand that his brains are being bashed out by a newly arrived pacific islander.
- For a society to even have these traits, certain conditions must be met (historical, geographical, material etc.) If they aren't there, all your appeals to "reason" won't matter.
RM's resident disinformation expert.
