While I was a visiting scholar at Yale Law in 1992, I audited Robert Ellickson’s Property class. It was one of the best classes I have ever seen— a great mix of calling on students, cases, economic theory, real-world non-law examples, and lecture, particularly encouraging to me because Professor Ellickson is no better than average in charisma. The strengths of his class were things untalented people could hope to emulate.
One thing I recall him saying, in preparation to talking about housing markets, was that people don’t get most angry when you disagree with them about theories or values. Rather, the bitterest feelings arise when you disagree on facts. I was just thinking about why this might be so, and have come up with a rational-choice reason, though it covers more than just facts. Rather, let us think why people get angriest when it’s most clearly shown that they are wrong.