On the face of it, and with the benefit of hindsight if the paper's presented theory is valid, if loss aversion as dominant motivation were a thing wouldn't human civilization have never progressed beyond hunter gatherer nomads?
Doesn't the fact that we keep growing and progressing as a species even tho the getting of these gains exposes us to risks, not just in the getting there, but once we have arrived, the "curse/paradox of development", suggest that loss aversion is not a majority principle of human behavior?
But... maybe...gain attraction / gain pursuit is a general principle...perhaps of all life, not just ours? Maybe that's one of the characteristics that tautologically has to define life. Life exists in an uncertain environment and couldn't continue to do so without taking risks / experimenting into that unknown.
Not really. Loss aversion doesn't mean complete refusal to face loss or complete lack of interest in gains, it just means that we weight losses more heavily than gains. I also don't think anybody's claiming it's a dominant motivation, just a common characteristic.
Doesn't the fact that we keep growing and progressing as a species even tho the getting of these gains exposes us to risks, not just in the getting there, but once we have arrived, the "curse/paradox of development", suggest that loss aversion is not a majority principle of human behavior?
But... maybe...gain attraction / gain pursuit is a general principle...perhaps of all life, not just ours? Maybe that's one of the characteristics that tautologically has to define life. Life exists in an uncertain environment and couldn't continue to do so without taking risks / experimenting into that unknown.