I think plastic straws are likely to be your best bet, but here are some alternatives. In each case I’m aiming for popular causes (not just individual laws or the like) where your readers should be able to see why people thought it was a good idea, even if ultimately unsuccessful:
Prohibition is a super interesting one I hadn’t considered, thanks!
GMOs/nuclear power are interesting but I’d suspect it’s unlikely to engage readers’ emotions much. I.e. I doubt they’ll leave thinking ‘wow, what a waste of time to oppose GMOs!’ because there is something quite intuitively unappealing about them. Might be worth a mention though, even if not as the key case study.
The others feel a little bit politicised, even though I agree!
I’ve seen this comment after writing my answer on GMOs… sorry for duplicating that idea.
That said, I totally think that opposing GMOs is not just a waste of time, it’s actually harmful. One of the striking examples is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_rice , where delays in approval probably caused thousands of deaths from vitamin A deficiency.
I’m surprised you would think that the support for the USSR and WWII isolationism, positions endorsed by no major western political parties today, are more political than GMOs and nuclear power, which are still opposed by major groups, but happy to help!
Fair point—political wasn’t the right word. I guess it’s more about those issues being about particular countries’ interests in particular historical contexts, whereas nuclear and GMOs feel more like classic cause areas (and are still very live today). Also, I don’t think nuclear and GMOs fall along party political lines.
I guess your point about the USSR raises a question about this example which has been explored in other threads: I don’t think the ideal example is one where the cause is obviously bad (like persecuting Christians), I think it’s something which initially seems good to people reading, but after they find out about what happens when the cause is pursued, they realise it’s wrong. Hence why plastic straws is probably a better example than religious persecution / Communism, because people are unlikely to have a priori negative opinions about it.
It might be a good idea to have some restrictions on some of these!
A key insight from PlayPumps is that the details matter—kids did not enjoy the “Play” part of the pumping system. It seems a little odd (almost Orwellian) the inventor/promoter ignored this
I think plastic straws are likely to be your best bet, but here are some alternatives. In each case I’m aiming for popular causes (not just individual laws or the like) where your readers should be able to see why people thought it was a good idea, even if ultimately unsuccessful:
Prohibition
Liberia
Opposition to GMOs
Opposition to Nuclear Power
US anti-war activism prior to Pearl Harbour
Western pro-Soviet activism before their atrocities were well known.
Prohibition is a super interesting one I hadn’t considered, thanks!
GMOs/nuclear power are interesting but I’d suspect it’s unlikely to engage readers’ emotions much. I.e. I doubt they’ll leave thinking ‘wow, what a waste of time to oppose GMOs!’ because there is something quite intuitively unappealing about them. Might be worth a mention though, even if not as the key case study.
The others feel a little bit politicised, even though I agree!
I’ve seen this comment after writing my answer on GMOs… sorry for duplicating that idea.
That said, I totally think that opposing GMOs is not just a waste of time, it’s actually harmful. One of the striking examples is https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_rice , where delays in approval probably caused thousands of deaths from vitamin A deficiency.
I’m surprised you would think that the support for the USSR and WWII isolationism, positions endorsed by no major western political parties today, are more political than GMOs and nuclear power, which are still opposed by major groups, but happy to help!
I actually thought the USSR example might be especially palatable to your audience given the communists’ historical persecution of Christians.
Fair point—political wasn’t the right word. I guess it’s more about those issues being about particular countries’ interests in particular historical contexts, whereas nuclear and GMOs feel more like classic cause areas (and are still very live today). Also, I don’t think nuclear and GMOs fall along party political lines.
I guess your point about the USSR raises a question about this example which has been explored in other threads: I don’t think the ideal example is one where the cause is obviously bad (like persecuting Christians), I think it’s something which initially seems good to people reading, but after they find out about what happens when the cause is pursued, they realise it’s wrong. Hence why plastic straws is probably a better example than religious persecution / Communism, because people are unlikely to have a priori negative opinions about it.
Prohibition is a great example. It covers:
-alcohol
-marijuana
-LSD
-opioids
-etc
It might be a good idea to have some restrictions on some of these!
A key insight from PlayPumps is that the details matter—kids did not enjoy the “Play” part of the pumping system. It seems a little odd (almost Orwellian) the inventor/promoter ignored this