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John Rawls wrote a thought experiment about the original position. Imagine you're behind a veil, about to be born, but you don't know where.
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John Rawls wrote a thought experiment about the original position. Imagine you're behind a veil, about to be born, but you don't know where.
Featuring: Warren Buffett, Frederick Douglass, John Rawls
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Imagine that it is 24 hours before you are going to be born. A genie comes to you. You get to design the world you will enter. The catch: you don't know whether you will be born rich or poor, male or female, healthy or sick, in the United States or Afghanistan.
Warren Buffett, on the "ovarian lottery"
John Rawls wrote a thought experiment. He called it the original position. Imagine you're behind a veil, about to be born, but you don't know where. You don't know your country, your race, your family, your gifts. What rules would you write from behind the veil?
You wake up here.
- Different country
- Different family
- Different neighborhood
- Different caste
The character sheet was filled in before you opened your eyes.
Frederick Douglass spawned enslaved.
1. He learned to read in secret.
2. He escaped at twenty.
3. He spent the rest of his life writing, speaking and advising presidents.
Most spawn easier than Douglass. Your spawn point was set. The play from here is yours.
What advantage in your starting point have you been overlooking?