Humility helps to avoid unintended consequences. Consider two old-timey sayings. “Find out why a fence exists before you take it down.” Also, "Beware what you wish for." Many wishes contain the seeds of their own disappointment. There is a party game, an intellectual exercise, called "Ruin-a-Wish." One person makes a wish. The next person grants it, but adds an ironic drawback that ruins the benefit.
Philosopher Nick Bostrom offered a famous example. Imagine a genie-like artificial intelligence whose only goal is to maximize paperclip production. It grants the wish so effectively that it converts buildings, forests, and eventually people into raw materials for paperclips. The lesson is that human beings are good at imagining desired outcomes and bad at imagining unintended consequences.
History is full of similar examples. Americans once wished that freedom, democracy, and opportunity would spread throughout the world. Heroic leaders, honestly pursuing that goal, embraced Domino Theory, a geopolitical form of slippery-slope reasoning that held that if one nation fell to communism, neighboring nations would follow. The result was a long, costly, and deeply controversial war that trapped Vietnam in the Cold War.
Political parties face their own version of Ruin-a-Wish. To win winner-take-all elections, parties often become "big tents" that unite increasingly incompatible factions. The benefit is possible electoral success. The cost is internal conflict, ideological confusion, a cynical public, and frustrated voters. Some voters eventually become politically homeless, belonging fully to neither party.
Which brings us to Battle Ground. The city council recently adopted a policy allowing invocations before meetings. Supporters likely hoped to bring faith into public proceedings. Under the same rules, however, the first invocation was delivered by a representative of The Satanic Temple. Whether one applauded or opposed the outcome, whether it seemed silly or offensive, it demonstrated an old truth: once a principle is adopted, it often produces consequences that nobody anticipated. Fences, including the one between church and state, deserve careful consideration before attempted removal.
Many political disappointments arise from overestimating what politics can accomplish and underestimating the unintended consequences of getting exactly what we asked for. Before changing laws, institutions, or public traditions, we should ask a humble question: "What happens if this principle is applied fairly to people we disagree with?" Had more of us learned that habit, we might have fewer political surprises and fewer reasons to say, "Beware what you wish for.”
Dave Norris
Vancouver, WA
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