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Gov't Knows Best? White House creates 'nudge squad' to shape behavior

Jango

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The federal government is hiring what it calls a "Behavioral Insights Team" that will look for ways to subtly influence people's behavior, according to a document describing the program obtained by FoxNews.com. Critics warn there could be unintended consequences to such policies, while supporters say the team could make government and society more efficient.

While the program is still in its early stages, the document shows the White House is already working on such projects with almost a dozen federal departments and agencies including the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture.

"Behavioral sciences can be used to help design public policies that work better, cost less, and help people to achieve their goals," reads the government document describing the program, which goes on to call for applicants to apply for positions on the team.

The document was emailed by Maya Shankar, a White House senior adviser on social and behavioral sciences, to a university professor with the request that it be distributed to people interested in joining the team. The idea is that the team would "experiment" with various techniques, with the goal of tweaking behavior so people do everything from saving more for retirement to saving more in energy costs.

The document praises subtle policies to change behavior that have already been implemented in England, which already has a "Behavioral Insights Team." One British policy concerns how to get late tax filers to pay up.

Gov't Knows Best? White House creates 'nudge squad' to shape behavior | Fox News

As if we're not manipulated enough by forces outside our purview, now our government is openly engaging in these tactics.
 
As if we're not manipulated enough by forces outside our purview, now our government is openly engaging in these tactics.
You're exposed to that on a daily basis.

It's called 'marketing'.
 
" Tax Filers to pay up" !?

F*** You Obama and the disgusting Liberal virus you drug into that White House with you.

Where are the behavioral sciences needed to clean up the gehttos and to stop the mass kilkings of young blacks by other young blacks ?

The behavioural sciences that teaches people not to embrace the victim mentallity and to be self sufficient ?
 
You're exposed to that on a daily basis.

It's called 'marketing'.

Of course. Advertising and propaganda are powerful tools. Tools that our government shouldn't be using on us. Don't you agree?
 
Of course. Advertising and propaganda are powerful tools. Tools that our government shouldn't be using on us. Don't you agree?
Government has been doing that since day one. Organizations and leaders have been doing that since day one. You've been doing that since day one. You cried, fussed and looked cute as a baby, did you not? That's behavioral science.

"The term behavioural sciences encompasses all the disciplines that explore the activities of and interactions among organisms in the natural world. It involves the systematic analysis and investigation of human and animal behaviour through controlled and naturalistic observation, and disciplined scientific experimentation. It attempts to accomplish legitimate, objective conclusions through rigorous formulations and observation. Examples of behavioural sciences include psychology, psychobiology, and cognitive science."
 
You're exposed to that on a daily basis.

It's called 'marketing'.

With the govt you are forced to pay for it. This looks like something the USSR would have done.
 
Government has been doing that since day one. Organizations and leaders have been doing that since day one. You've been doing that since day one. You cried, fussed and looked cute as a baby, did you not? That's behavioral science.

"The term behavioural sciences encompasses all the disciplines that explore the activities of and interactions among organisms in the natural world. It involves the systematic analysis and investigation of human and animal behaviour through controlled and naturalistic observation, and disciplined scientific experimentation. It attempts to accomplish legitimate, objective conclusions through rigorous formulations and observation. Examples of behavioural sciences include psychology, psychobiology, and cognitive science."

Thank you for the information, but you didn't say whether or not you agreed with the government messing around with behavioural sciences on us.
 
Remember Orwell
Oh, dear Lord. They're getting behavioral scientists to recommend how to make government run more efficient; i.e. putting tax forms online instead of mailing them. Where to place public notice signs at the beach. How to combat tagging and vandalism.

You don't need to be in a corner hyperventilating into a brown paper bag.
 
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Thank you for the information, but you didn't say whether or not you agreed with the government messing around with behavioural sciences on us.
Everyone in the government should have been given this type of feedback years ago. It would certainly help with the ineffective, bureaucratic, fraud-ridden, wasteful, clueless, federal programs that we already have. Can you just imagine a behavior scientist telling the dolts in the government that beaming jammed radio signals into Cuba is ineffective? Or saying, "Hey you do realize that no one actually listens to PSAs ... ?"
 
Oh, dear Lord. They're getting behavioral scientists to recommend how to make government run more efficient; i.e. putting tax forms online instead of mailing them. Where to place public notice signs at the beach. How to combat tagging and vandalism.

You don't need to be in a corner hyperventilating into a brown paper bag.

Realpolitik. The stated goal and the *real* goal. Granted, some good could actually come out of this; however, the line for abuse will probably be crossed given who is doing the administering.
 
I agree with this:
You're exposed to that on a daily basis.

It's called 'marketing'.
You agree with this?

Do I think the government should be marketing? Probably not, but there are many things the government does that annoy me at least as much or more.

I go to great lengths to avoid marketing. I don't even have a TV to tell me how to smell or what to think.
 
I agree with this:


Do I think the government should be marketing? Probably not, but there are many things the government does that annoy me at least as much or more.

I go to great lengths to avoid marketing. I don't even have a TV to tell me how to smell or what to think.

How do you watch football?
 
You watch Fox news and your concerned about being manipulated?!

I watch CNN and C-SPAN too.

When my wife lets me, I do all my own thinking.
 
You watch CNN and are entertained? :(

Who said I watch CNN. Besides, they are all manipulative yo one extent or another. Some just more than others and some use fear more than others
 
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Oh, dear Lord. They're getting behavioral scientists to recommend how to make government run more efficient; i.e. putting tax forms online instead of mailing them. Where to place public notice signs at the beach. How to combat tagging and vandalism.

You don't need to be in a corner hyperventilating into a brown paper bag.

Dizziness, nausea and hysteria complements of FOX news
 
Didn't Hitler do the same thing but used propaganda threats and violence to accomplish the same thing and we all now how that turned out millions of murdered Jews

No. He really didn't. Christian Europe has never needed to be nudged into killing Jews. They were doing that before the Holocaust. Or are you so oblivious to history that you have never heard of these:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1968_Polish_political_crisis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/László_Baky
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Russia#Mass_emigration
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Spain#Massacres_of_1366
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Portugal

For the most part, Europeans hated Jews long before Hitler came around. He's just another person in a long list of Europeans who have committed atrocities against zee joos.

Thanks for trying though.
 
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" Tax Filers to pay up" !?

F*** You Obama and the disgusting Liberal virus you drug into that White House with you.

Where are the behavioral sciences needed to clean up the gehttos and to stop the mass kilkings of young blacks by other young blacks ?

The behavioural sciences that teaches people not to embrace the victim mentallity and to be self sufficient ?
Dont you need a lot of money to be self sufficient?
 
The whole point of government is to influence peoples behavior. Limited Liability is a thing because more people will create businesses when they don't have to worrying about personally bankrupting themselves if it fails. Criminal justice does nothing but deter certain actions through threat of punishment. Applying behavioral science to improve our current governments sloppy and inefficient ways of doing things is not something to get upset about.
 
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