Sam Harris has said that there are some beliefs, so dangerous, that we could have to kill someone for believing it.
Imagine an agent with an (incorrect) belief that only by killing everyone, would the world be the best place possible, and a prior against anything realistically causing it to update away. This would have to be stopped somehow, because of what it thinks (and what that causes it to do).
Y’know the intentional stance?
Belief + Desire --> Intentional Action
(In fact, I the agent sounds similar to a religious person who believes that killing everyone ensures believers eternity in heaven, and evil people an eternity in hell or something similar—and knows that doubts are only offered by the devil. Sam Harris talks about this idea in the context of a discussion of people who believe in Islam and act on the beliefs by blowing themselves up in crowded places.)
I’m not what practical advice this gives, I’m just making the general point that what you think becomes what you do, and there’s a lot of bad things you can do.
Imagine an agent with an (incorrect) belief that only by killing everyone, would the world be the best place possible, and a prior against anything realistically causing it to update away. This would have to be stopped somehow, because of what it thinks (and what that causes it to do).
That doesn’t quite follow.
Thinking something does not make it so, and there are a vanishingly small number of people who could realistically act on a desire to kill everyone. The only time you have to be deeply concerned about someone with those beliefs is if they managed to end up in a position of power, and even that just means “stricter controls on who gets access to world-ending power” rather than searching for thoughtcriminals specifically.
Sam Harris has said that there are some beliefs, so dangerous, that we could have to kill someone for believing it.
Imagine an agent with an (incorrect) belief that only by killing everyone, would the world be the best place possible, and a prior against anything realistically causing it to update away. This would have to be stopped somehow, because of what it thinks (and what that causes it to do).
Y’know the intentional stance?
Belief + Desire --> Intentional Action
(In fact, I the agent sounds similar to a religious person who believes that killing everyone ensures believers eternity in heaven, and evil people an eternity in hell or something similar—and knows that doubts are only offered by the devil. Sam Harris talks about this idea in the context of a discussion of people who believe in Islam and act on the beliefs by blowing themselves up in crowded places.)
I’m not what practical advice this gives, I’m just making the general point that what you think becomes what you do, and there’s a lot of bad things you can do.
That doesn’t quite follow.
Thinking something does not make it so, and there are a vanishingly small number of people who could realistically act on a desire to kill everyone. The only time you have to be deeply concerned about someone with those beliefs is if they managed to end up in a position of power, and even that just means “stricter controls on who gets access to world-ending power” rather than searching for thoughtcriminals specifically.
The Catholic Church has been practicing this for quite a few centuries.