John Moore:

Stephen makes the point that he is coming at this from a libertarian perspective, so I can see that this will make little impact if you are a social conservative.

Myself? I am personally a social conservative and have always made the point that social conventions enshrine centuries of social trial and error. Like most evolutionary solutions, the reason things are done a certain way is not very clear, but that does not mean that there is no reason, or that changeing things will not have an adverse effect. So I tend to the conservative side here.

On the other hand, I do have a strong libertarian streak, and know that in my own work that I am attracted to the new, the offbeat, the untried. So it is always good if a more conservative person is involved in making crucial decisions. There is a useful balance that can be achieved here.