Why societies make huge mistakes by making bad decisions is explained in the article “Why Do Some Societies Make Disastrous Decisions” by Jared Diamond. He reasons that societies at large make mistakes because of poor anticipation of the future, miscommunication of a potential issue, and poor execution to solve the problems. The logic presented in the article may sound rather obvious and simple but the reason as to why societies make poor decisions is rather sophisticated. Jared touches on the fact that societies make bad decisions because of a lack of information, and the lag that is created by societal changes because of social norms and attitudes that take long amounts of time to adjust. For example in the 1600’s a scientist discovered that if a doctor washed his hands before delivering a baby, he could decrease childbirth deaths by 90%. It took until the 1790’s for the practice of a doctor washing his hands before delivering a child to become a norm. This is an example of how society, specifically the doctors in hospitals, failed to accept the facts in front of them until accepting the facts almost 200 years after the cure was found. The same works for any society. If a society is not correctly informed and persuaded, it will tend to make bad decisions based on out of date information that could be misleading or wrong.
I completely agree with your comment when you state that society makes mistakes because of our lack of anticipation for what is to come in the future. I think that is a great point that is often overlooked.
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