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Hammurabi's code of laws, was written in common language, and was brief enough every subject could understand them.
It makes no sense that we should be subject to a volume of law that we could never even read, let alone understand.
Musk is correct in insisting that laws should expire, and it should be easier to remove a law than add one. Minimum Viable Law.
Long ago lay people had no idea what the bible said because they could not read Latin. Well lawyers are the new priests, legalese is the new Latin.
Of course, there's plenty to discuss and argue about in all of the above, but your comparison makes it seem like a done deal.
So does Pillar Technology: https://pillartechnology.com/dist/assets/careers/pillar-appr...
Although it covers a plethora of topics, what really binds it together is the idea of 'strange loops,' and how loops are existent in most everything, how they signal information, how they come in various steps, etc, etc, etc.. I'm sure the author would disagree with that summary actually, but it's the best I can do.
In finance for example, it's prompted me to more actively search for loops in any given analysis, and sometimes at a much more macro level. In politics, I've ended up thinking a lot more deeply about some loops of how civilizations progress and ideologies change.
To summarize: The book does a fantastic job at showing you how all of these loops are present throughout computer science, physics, chemistry, music, art, and practically everything imaginable. Once you realize the existence of these loops that you were previously oblivious to, you start to search for them more actively. You should definitely check it out if this sounds interesting!
The author is interested in how meaning can arise from meaningless components. For example, any one cell in the brain doesn't seem to have awareness, intelligence, etc. -- so why is it that a brain's worth does seem to have these abilities? To take it further, one could consider the constituent atoms and such.
There are analogies with music, visual art, and more subjects. How is it that a single musical note conveys so little, yet certain arrangements convey so much?
The author has a rough idea about how this happens. He thinks this event (meaning arising from meaningless parts) is the core scientific-philosophical question for developing strong AI.
One of the ways we handle this now is we actually ask the students to consult their family before signing anything. We also allow the students to still drop out of the program at no liability within the first two weeks.
The problem with upfront payment is that we are no longer held accountable by aligned incentives. The most predatory thing about student loans is that you still owe the same amount of money regardless of your outcome. I think our income share agreement is designed to be much safer since in almost every case where you pay anything you are also capable of paying it.
For students in exceptional situations, we'll even waive their dues or retro-actively offer financial aid since we didn't design the program to be a future burden. The way we see it, helping out a student in need in any way pays back tenfold in terms of reputation later.
The progressive^2 pricing model is interesting though. It's a little legally complex unfortunately so we have to look into it, but I also like the aspect of the idea where the less you make as a student, the more a lower percentage could help you live more comfortably.
There is some recent controversy surrounding Malta in the Catholic world. To dive into that rabbit hole: https://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2017/01/a-note-on-sovereig...