That we don’t like the fact that our lives revolve around zero-sum status competitions implies that there’s motivation to self-modify in the direction of deriving fulfillment from other things.
Trouble is, once you go down that road, the ultimate destination is wireheading. This raises all sorts of difficult questions, to which I have no particularly interesting answers.
Though I know others feel differently (sometimes vehemently), aside from instrumental considerations (near guaranteed longevity & the welfare of others) I personally don’t mind being wireheaded.
My attitude is similar to the one that denisbider expresses here with some qualifications. In particular I don’t see the number of beings as so important and his last paragraph strikes me as sort of creepy.
Trouble is, once you go down that road, the ultimate destination is wireheading. This raises all sorts of difficult questions, to which I have no particularly interesting answers.
Though I know others feel differently (sometimes vehemently), aside from instrumental considerations (near guaranteed longevity & the welfare of others) I personally don’t mind being wireheaded.
My attitude is similar to the one that denisbider expresses here with some qualifications. In particular I don’t see the number of beings as so important and his last paragraph strikes me as sort of creepy.