For most part judgements like “too lazy” are just another method of attempting influence—usually a method that is inferior to reinforcement.
Well, making judgments like “too lazy” can also provide valuable social cover for other kinds of reinforcement (or punishment), within communities where deliberately altering the behavior of others is seen as unacceptable unless I can frame it as being for their benefit.
More generally, motivated speculation about other people’s best interests (including but not limited to positing that they possess unexpressed “terminal values” that happen to align better with what I seem to want than with what they seem to want) can be a very useful way to ignore people’s stated preferences without feeling (or being seen by third parties as) indebted to them.
Well, making judgments like “too lazy” can also provide valuable social cover for other kinds of reinforcement (or punishment), within communities where deliberately altering the behavior of others is seen as unacceptable unless I can frame it as being for their benefit.
More generally, motivated speculation about other people’s best interests (including but not limited to positing that they possess unexpressed “terminal values” that happen to align better with what I seem to want than with what they seem to want) can be a very useful way to ignore people’s stated preferences without feeling (or being seen by third parties as) indebted to them.