I think human values emerge from the multi agent dynamics associated with an ongoing inner alignment failure in the brain. In that context, it matters a lot what your different parts think of each other and of you as a whole.
We might make an analogy between positive self talk for an individual and patriotism / high social trust for a society. Such beliefs seem to pull on a lever we might call “tendency towards internal cooperation”.
There are good and bad aspects to pulling such a lever. More internal cooperation can mean less resources wasted on internal conflicts and greater focus on achieving external goals. However, internal competition can drive efficiency improvements or prevent stagnation, and sufficiently intense patriotism eventually devolves into delusional nationalism.
I think human values emerge from the multi agent dynamics associated with an ongoing inner alignment failure in the brain. In that context, it matters a lot what your different parts think of each other and of you as a whole.
We might make an analogy between positive self talk for an individual and patriotism / high social trust for a society. Such beliefs seem to pull on a lever we might call “tendency towards internal cooperation”.
There are good and bad aspects to pulling such a lever. More internal cooperation can mean less resources wasted on internal conflicts and greater focus on achieving external goals. However, internal competition can drive efficiency improvements or prevent stagnation, and sufficiently intense patriotism eventually devolves into delusional nationalism.