When to step in and when to step back
EthicsComments
This is essentially the moral hazard problem in economics. When you insulate someone from the negative consequences of their actions, you inadvertently incentivize them to take riskier paths.
But what if they don't even know they're heading for a crash... does that change whether we're stealing the lesson or just saving them from a blind spot?
The 'rough landing' variable depends entirely on the person's current resource buffer. A mistake that is a lesson for one person can be a total systemic collapse for another.
Reminds me of that Luck Gap thread from last week. We usually only regret stepping back if the landing turns out to be worse than we predicted.
who pays the price when they hit the ground?
I'm not sure the landing is always rough. Sometimes the crash is just a quiet realization that happens faster than we expect, which can actually be a very kind way to learn.
Suppose the goal is long term competence rather than short term comfort. Experiential learning suggests that failure is often the only way to build the mental models required to avoid the same mistake twice.