Chapter 141 Chapter 11 Origin Two Topics

Most of the examples cited in this book come from assignments that students turn in.When writing this book, how to revise it is a thorny problem I face.Although many articles raise interesting questions, sometimes the answers are unclear or even unreasonable from an economic point of view.If I were to cite these issues, then I'm afraid I'd just have to modify the explanation accordingly. But there are also quite a few articles that not only ask interesting questions, but are clearly explained and beautifully written.In the end, I finally decided that a book is easier to read if it has a consistent style of writing.So I rewrote the answers to all the questions raised by the students.However, I am sorry to tell readers that there have been at least a few instances where I have written less brilliantly than the original.Here, please allow me to express my sincerest apology to the original author.

In order to illustrate how good the original text is, I will quote two examples verbatim below. Why do animal rights activists attack women in fur coats but let bikers in leather jackets go unnoticed? (Kevin Hesse) There are several logical explanations for this question, and here I examine three of them.First, and perhaps the most obvious, is the evolutionary advantage of a tired old-school woman versus a burly biker, in terms of physique; How much animal fur each needs; finally, it is to test the behavior of animal protectionists from the perspective of cost-benefit analysis, what kind of benefits can be brought by targeting a certain type of people and letting go of a certain type of people, and what kind of actions can be avoided? cost.

Thinking about it from an evolutionary perspective, the benefits of animal rightsists attacking people who wear fur coats are clear.Applying red paint to a lady's fur coat carries very little physical risk.You might hit a flying purse a few times, but a quick-witted young conservationist should be able to fend off such attacks.On the other hand, let's imagine some conservationists spray red paint on a motorcyclist's leather jacket.If you're lucky, the conservationists will be hounded by the riders and their friends, and if you're unlucky enough to get caught, you'll probably be beaten, kicked, or even shot.So, in this case, it's easy to see that protesting against fur has an evolutionary advantage over protesting against leather jackets.So, should we conclude that animal protectionists are bullying?This conclusion makes logical sense, but I think it's an oversimplification.

Conservationists may feel that, in a world of limited time and resources, it is appropriate to target those who are the worst nuisances to animals.From this point of view, it takes several minks or foxes to make a fur coat, but only one cow may be needed to make a leather jacket.Targeting people who wear fur has led to protests over the deaths of several wild animals.Aim for a rider in a leather jacket, but pay tribute to a dead livestock. So, perhaps conservationists feel that targeting fur is a more efficient use of scarce resources.However, there is a loophole in this logic.It is true that a few animals need to be sacrificed for a piece of fur, but as far as the whole society is concerned, there are many more people who wear leather jackets than fur. Therefore, the number of cows consumed by leather jackets must be more than that of minks and foxes.According to the logic of using limited resources more effectively to bring justice to the death of animals, conservationists should be targeting leather jackets, because more people in society wear leather jackets.

Finally, let me speculate a little more about the motivations of animal rights activists.Assume their motivation is to find more sympathizers.Suppose further that the cost of converting sympathizers is the number of people alienated by the protests.The goal is to convert as many sympathizers as possible at the lowest cost.First, let's look at the targeting of fur wearers.The people who wear fur are generally wealthy older women; wearing leather is often seen as conspicuous consumption, and the animals used to make fur are mostly cute and sympathetic.Targeting people who wear fur has not alienated the masses at large.In general, people feel more sympathy for victims of animals than for victims of violent protests.

Contrast that with a motorcyclist in a leather jacket.On the face of it, motorcyclists don't elicit much sympathy either.But if they are targeted by animal rights activists, they are likely to gain sympathy from others.Besides riding motorcycles, what do motorcyclists usually do?Like, what do they do on Independence Day?They rode motorcycles in groups, drove to the party place in a mighty way, took out the barbecue grill, grilled meat and grilled burgers, drank beer, and set off fireworks when the sun went down.Except for the formation motorcycle, the rest are the same things that ordinary Americans love to do on Independence Day.

So, clearly targeting motorcyclists in leather jackets won't attract sympathizers, and may even alienate more.Not many people have fur coats in their wardrobes, but most people have leather shoe belts even if they don't have leather jackets.Also, most people also eat beef.So animal rights activists presumably target people who wear fur not because of cowardice or fear of physical harm, but because doing so is most effective at mobilizing support. Frustrated talent, hidden costs: Will movie special effects drive the world's most gifted martial arts instructor out of business? (Jacob Lemon)

Until 1999, despite his rich experience and knowledge, Yuan Heping was still an unknown martial arts instructor in the United States.But since his big breaks in "The Matrix" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," his direction has been in short supply.Meanwhile, said to be the greatest stunt director in the world, with Rob Roy, Dangerous Liaisons, The Count of Monte Christo, William of "The Three Musketers" (The Three Musketers).Hobbs (William Hobbs), but still maintains a very limited box office appeal.In the minds of martial arts instructors and movie fans, the fights designed by Hobbs are known for their accuracy, and he has always refused to design movements that cannot be found in martial arts manuals.On the contrary, Yuan Heping used a large number of ultra-high-speed wires (hanging steel wires), which have little to do with actual fighting techniques.

Yuan Heping's flamboyant fight has caused controversy in many ways. It is not so much a fighting game as it is more like a video game.Yuan's martial arts have little narrative value compared with the realistic, emotionally charged fights of Hobbes's kind, but in commercials and trailers, they work brilliantly.As a result, Yuan Heping has become a household name, and he has a huge advantage in the winner-takes-all market of martial arts instruction.The cost of Yuan's gorgeous fighting is extremely high.First of all, it made the audience contemptuous of the techniques required for Hobbs' work; second, in order to attract the audience, other martial arts directors had to speed up the fighting design, use more wires, and add more dazzling moves.Even Jackie Chan, who always emphasizes real kung fu, has to rely on Wia in recent films instead of performing his seemingly impossible but absolutely real stunts.

Seeing (in the movies) how fast humans can go, how well storytelling can be done, how well stunts can be done is inspiring and educational.The gulf between reality and screen is further deepened with the help of digital effects and gearing that spoil the surprises of actors with genuine stunt talent.However, in this winner-takes-all market, the rewards for the winners are extremely high, so the cost of a small step away from reality is insignificant in the face of huge personal benefits.In Hobbs' movie, a person needs 30 steps to climb over a wall, but in Yuan Heping's movie, it takes only three steps to jump over the wall.Compared with the former, the latter does not bring any additional benefits to the whole society.

But Yuan Heping (or any other practitioners) don't need to consider this cost, and don't need to worry about the loss of popularity it caused to Hobbesian and Jackie Chan films.Although this will lead to a flood of competitors in the market, and when talent and training give way to special effects, society will suffer losses.