Micromotives and Macrobehavior Essay - 811 Words

Micromotive is the inner motivation that leads us in performing particular acts. Those decisions are to pursue peoples’ own self interest, unintentionally lead to contradict with other people’s acts. Chasing that idea of human nature T. Shelling gives us variable results of how micromotives can guide the society in the world of externalities. Economists tend to rely on A. Smith’s â€Å"Wealth of nation† where he talks about invisible hand theorem† according to which people seek to promote their own self interests in the society and also promote the interest of society. (McConnel, B.). Schelling in his paper presents things from different angle. He convinces us that individual actions can lead to surprising results as an aggregate. In our†¦show more content†¦One meaning is seen in situations like choosing whether to drive on the left or the right lanes. The drivers must coordinate to each others behavior, so accidents will be avoided. Many times we have been challenged by those situations where you want to behave just like everyone else or not behaving just like everyone else. Invisible coordinating laws influence our decisions and behavior in those situations. For example at the funeral everyone is trying to wear dark colors rather then bright and flashy. Government is taking part in coordinating our behavior by establishing rules and regulations. For example you are not allowed to drive above speed limit otherwise a state trooper may pull you over. Schelling believes that segregation results from different micromotives that people may have because of different ethnicities, skin color or religion. He observed the phenomenon of diversity between people those qualities that choose to live in the same neighborhoods. That supports the idea of social contract where people of the same background have the same micromotives that help to interact with each other in harmony. He believes that racism is not the main factor of segregation in the neighborhoods. Based on â€Å"micromotives† theory broad diversity of viewpoints among individuals leads them to ling and interact more often with those who hold similar opinions. Black people are likely to buy or rent an apartment in a similar ethnic