your examples seem more like people exploiting oxytocin-the-drug, rather than achieving the gestured-at-by-oxytocin value. i suppose it’s true that each neurotransmitter is an attack surface, but it’s a bit of an odd way to look at the world.
by analogy, consider someone who does not enjoy exercise. we offer them a pill to start enjoying exercise, touting some of the benefits: increased health, increased energy, increased creativity. the response “hmm. i get that exercise is your value. but hey, empirically there seem to be a lot of weightlifters, and athletes for whom exercise is… forgive the offense… but an outlet. they seem to like exercise despite the fact that, objectively, it often leads them to injury, or wear on the body. some of them exercise all the time, to the exclusion of other values. i’m sorry. i appreciate the offer, but i just don’t feel the need for that value.”
fine! fine. if-by-exercise you mean this, then of course i am against it. but if-by-exercise you mean that glorious athleticism, a sound mind in a sound body, that makes its practitioners so much more healthy, then how can i not be for it?
similarly with your description of companionate love: you describe the worst forms of oxytocin addiction, and then declare that you do not want that value. of course i am against it! but perhaps these farthest reaches of love addiction are not the “true destination”. perhaps they are not the terminus towards which the neurotransmitter is doing its best to point.
your examples seem more like people exploiting oxytocin-the-drug, rather than achieving the gestured-at-by-oxytocin value. i suppose it’s true that each neurotransmitter is an attack surface, but it’s a bit of an odd way to look at the world.
by analogy, consider someone who does not enjoy exercise. we offer them a pill to start enjoying exercise, touting some of the benefits: increased health, increased energy, increased creativity. the response “hmm. i get that exercise is your value. but hey, empirically there seem to be a lot of weightlifters, and athletes for whom exercise is… forgive the offense… but an outlet. they seem to like exercise despite the fact that, objectively, it often leads them to injury, or wear on the body. some of them exercise all the time, to the exclusion of other values. i’m sorry. i appreciate the offer, but i just don’t feel the need for that value.”
fine! fine. if-by-exercise you mean this, then of course i am against it. but if-by-exercise you mean that glorious athleticism, a sound mind in a sound body, that makes its practitioners so much more healthy, then how can i not be for it?
similarly with your description of companionate love: you describe the worst forms of oxytocin addiction, and then declare that you do not want that value. of course i am against it! but perhaps these farthest reaches of love addiction are not the “true destination”. perhaps they are not the terminus towards which the neurotransmitter is doing its best to point.
oh also: it’s not clear to me that the described addictive relationship behaviors exploit oxytocin, rather than normal variable reward loops.
(to be clear, this object-level claim doesn’t really affect the much more interesting meta-question of “when should you change your values?”)