tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4748060798655400108.post3553286627509971079..comments2023-11-02T08:55:35.510-07:00Comments on Market Design: Is economic repugnance closely related to biological disgust?Al Rothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02232854038397912604noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4748060798655400108.post-62784969701046918762012-01-29T19:03:56.401-08:002012-01-29T19:03:56.401-08:00There are people who want to eat feces (this is th...There are people who want to eat feces (this is the internet, you can find evidence of this with a search engine), and this is true of almost anything one can come up with that is gross or disgusting: there are people who want to do it. Disgust is also, as the article pointed out, learned. When I was child the idea of going into fountains in cities didn't disgust me. After three years of living in Dupont in DC it did. I'm sure that many children need to be taught not to eat feces (note what hook worm eradication programs need to train people not to do). The emotion of disgust may indeed be evolutionarily helpful, but what triggers that emotion is cultural and, as the article notes with hand washing, can be taught.<br /><br />Which is to say: I think you dismiss the possible connection between disgust and repugnant transactions far to quickly here.Bitsyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00264893360691892118noreply@blogger.com