Tyler Cowen: evaluation

Transcript context

…Say more. That’s one thing striking to me about the current world. You need different kinds of representation. But the kind of moves you make to get there often create a monoculture of its own. And you see this when you compare the coasts to other parts of America. I once wrote a blog post saying, “Well, there’s a lot more diversity amongst supporters of Trump than supporters of Hillary Clinton.” This got me in a lot of trouble. People wrote to me, outraged, “How can that be?” But there’s many kinds of diversity. For instance, a simple principle is, our correct point of view will be less diverse than people who are wrong because there are many more ways to be wrong. [laughter] If you’re completely right about something, that’s a way in which you’re not very diverse, even if you sort of feel you’re religiously, ethnically, otherwise more diverse. So whether the kinds of diversity that matter are the kinds that are elevated in current American political discourse, that’s so taken for granted, especially on the coasts. And I think, actually, most of America doesn’t necessarily agree with that. Can you say a bit more about the concept of diversity with regard to culture or ideas or whatever? In particular, do you think diversity in some particular directions or some particular kinds of diversity matter more than others, or are you just for more heterogeneity in the broadest sense?…

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