I spent those three weeks doing little else in my spare time but reading the Sequences (which I’ve now finished).
Impressive. I’ve been here for over a year and I still haven’t finished all of them.
However, I’ve been an egoist for as long as I can remember, and I see no reason why this might change in the foreseeable future (this seems to be my primary point of departure from agreement with Eliezer). I sometimes go out of my way to help people (strangers as much as friends) because I enjoy helping people, but I have no illusions about whose benefit my actions are for.
I’m curious — if someone invented a pill that exactly simulated the feeling of helping people, would you switch to taking that pill instead of actually helping people?
Impressive. I’ve been here for over a year and I still haven’t finished all of them.
Thanks! My friends thought I was crazy (well, they probably already did and still do), but once I firmly decided to get through the Sequences, I really almost didn’t do anything else while I wasn’t either in class, taking an exam, or taking care of biological needs like food (having a body is such a liability!).
I’m curious — if someone invented a pill that exactly simulated the feeling of helping people, would you switch to taking that pill instead of actually helping people?
No, because helping people has real effects that benefit everyone. There’s a reason I’m more inclined to help my friends than strangers—I can count on them to help me in return (this is still true of strangers, but less directly—people who live in a society of helpful people are more likely to be helpful!). This is especially true of friends who know more about certain things than I do—many of my friends are constantly teaching each other (and me) the things they know best, and we all know a lot more as a result… but it won’t work if I decide I don’t want to teach anyone anything.
I think there are few humans who don’t genuinely care more about themselves their friends and family than people in general.
Personally I find the idea that I should prefer the death of say, my own little sister, to two or three or four random little girls absurd. I suspect even when it comes to one’s own life people are hopelessly muddled on what they really want and their answers don’t correlate too well with actions. A better way to get an estimate of what a person is likley to do, is to ask them what fraction of people would sacrifice their lives to save the lives of N (small positive integer) other random people.
It’s even more complicated than that. If I see a few strangers in immediate, unambiguous danger, I’m pretty sure I will die to save them. But I will not spend all that much on donating to a charity that will save these same people, twenty years later and two thousand miles away. (...what was that about altruistic ideals being Far?)
Welcome!
Impressive. I’ve been here for over a year and I still haven’t finished all of them.
I’m curious — if someone invented a pill that exactly simulated the feeling of helping people, would you switch to taking that pill instead of actually helping people?
Thanks! My friends thought I was crazy (well, they probably already did and still do), but once I firmly decided to get through the Sequences, I really almost didn’t do anything else while I wasn’t either in class, taking an exam, or taking care of biological needs like food (having a body is such a liability!).
No, because helping people has real effects that benefit everyone. There’s a reason I’m more inclined to help my friends than strangers—I can count on them to help me in return (this is still true of strangers, but less directly—people who live in a society of helpful people are more likely to be helpful!). This is especially true of friends who know more about certain things than I do—many of my friends are constantly teaching each other (and me) the things they know best, and we all know a lot more as a result… but it won’t work if I decide I don’t want to teach anyone anything.
I think there are few humans who don’t genuinely care more about themselves their friends and family than people in general.
Personally I find the idea that I should prefer the death of say, my own little sister, to two or three or four random little girls absurd. I suspect even when it comes to one’s own life people are hopelessly muddled on what they really want and their answers don’t correlate too well with actions. A better way to get an estimate of what a person is likley to do, is to ask them what fraction of people would sacrifice their lives to save the lives of N (small positive integer) other random people.
It’s even more complicated than that. If I see a few strangers in immediate, unambiguous danger, I’m pretty sure I will die to save them. But I will not spend all that much on donating to a charity that will save these same people, twenty years later and two thousand miles away. (...what was that about altruistic ideals being Far?)
Excellent point.