On a related note, I think the argument has a strong correlation to the concept of any corporate entity. Replace cow, with employee; replace land with social impact. In both scenarios, people become more and more detached from the actual impact and consequences of their work. A corporate employee, or more commonly the executive layer, is charged with maximizing a single number: increase the sales, increase the share price, increase the page views. Where this leads, I'm not quite sure.
Many corporations do this on purpose in order to serve their bottom line. Telcos are famous for it. There's a reason you can't call ATT Wireless and request the same rep by name each time you call. They don't want you forming a relationship with the CSR. That might lead to them treating you with some favor. The process is intentionally depersonalized.
I know it's experimentally proven that people are more likely to cheat/steal the more levels of abstraction there are between the things being gained/stolen and money.
I don't find what you're saying hard to believe at all, seems like the same or at least very similar behaviour.
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[ 3.2 ms ] story [ 16.5 ms ] threadI don't find what you're saying hard to believe at all, seems like the same or at least very similar behaviour.