And suppose that by “benevolent” we mean capable of consistently and reliably acting in the long-term best interests of humans.
...I in fact meant humans as individuals. And traits that act in the long-term best interests of individuals do in fact exert selection pressure on the genome.
But perhaps you’re suggesting that by “benevolent” I ought to have meant capable of consistently and reliably acting in the long-term best interests of humanity as a species, and not necessarily the individual?
Ah, I was thrown by the plural at the end of your definition.
But by saying humans aren’t benevolent, you mean that there are no/few humans for which it’s true that “this person consistently acts in hir own best interests?”
Yes, that’s what I mean. Actually, more broadly, I mean that there are no humans for which it’s true that they consistently act in anyone’s best interests, including themselves.
That’s an interesting distinction. When I said:
...I in fact meant humans as individuals. And traits that act in the long-term best interests of individuals do in fact exert selection pressure on the genome.
But perhaps you’re suggesting that by “benevolent” I ought to have meant capable of consistently and reliably acting in the long-term best interests of humanity as a species, and not necessarily the individual?
Ah, I was thrown by the plural at the end of your definition.
But by saying humans aren’t benevolent, you mean that there are no/few humans for which it’s true that “this person consistently acts in hir own best interests?”
Yes, that’s what I mean. Actually, more broadly, I mean that there are no humans for which it’s true that they consistently act in anyone’s best interests, including themselves.