I'm not purely incentive (that would be much too simple :).
We must use any and all tools at our disposal to ensure the correct working order of valuable systems - such as finance (proper allocation of capital to risk is a great thing!).
Exploiting human desire, psychology, biases, irrationality and behaviour to create robust systems is a great idea! The are just some of the many tools that we have at our disposal to protect ourselves from abuse by "nasty" agents. This then allows us to move forward towards a more prosperous, robust and stable society in the future.
What I don't like is treating the symptoms (these financial hackers if you will :), instead of the cause (improperly checks and balances at centres of power).
Bring on the shame and the like - I'm all for it. But we should at the very least focus on fixing the causes (exploits in the system) rather than the hackers that exploit them (just like in security research).
I'm sorry if It sounds like I was straw-manning you. I was replying to the general approach and I guess that is a straw man.
BTW, I often take a similar opinion to the one you iterated. You can probably see in the comment, I'm on the fence. I agree that yelling about ethics is very silly and won't change a system. Changing rules and working with incentives is the way that we, as societies, run by institutions can fix things.
On the other hand the mentality we are cultivating (in ourselves) by thinking this way is nihilistic and (poignantly) silly.
Anyway, if we are examining institutions, the corporation might be one to put under the glass. While corporations are an innovation (in law of all things!) that has created incredible wealth, it's also pathological. At least it generates pathologies in people. It narrows a company (group of people)'s duties to investor profits. That's not normal for humans. Humans are made to balance a wide set of "interests" and understand them intuitively. I don't mean to imply that signing a piece of paper suddenly makes a business pathological but internalizing the implied mentality does. That's happening on a global level.
We must use any and all tools at our disposal to ensure the correct working order of valuable systems - such as finance (proper allocation of capital to risk is a great thing!).
Exploiting human desire, psychology, biases, irrationality and behaviour to create robust systems is a great idea! The are just some of the many tools that we have at our disposal to protect ourselves from abuse by "nasty" agents. This then allows us to move forward towards a more prosperous, robust and stable society in the future.
What I don't like is treating the symptoms (these financial hackers if you will :), instead of the cause (improperly checks and balances at centres of power).
Bring on the shame and the like - I'm all for it. But we should at the very least focus on fixing the causes (exploits in the system) rather than the hackers that exploit them (just like in security research).