Meta note before actual content: I’ve been noticing of late how many comments on LW, including my own, are nitpicks or small criticisms. Contrarianism is probably the root of why our kind can’t cooperate, and maybe even the reason so many people lurk and don’t post. So, let me preface this by thanking you for the post, and saying that I’m sharing this just as an FYI and not as a critique. This certainly isn’t a knock-down argument against anything you’ve said. Just something I thought was interesting, and might be helpful to keep in mind. :)
Clearly it was a moral error to assume that blacks had less moral weight than whites. The animal rights movement is basically just trying to make sure we don’t repeat this mistake with non-human animals. (Hence the use of terms like “speciesism”.) You use a couple reductio ad absurdum arguments with bacteria and video game characters, but it’s not entirely clear that we aren’t just socially biased there too. If the absurd turns out to be true, then the reductio ad absurdum fails. These arguments are valid ways of concluding “if A than B”, but keep in mind that A isn’t 100% certain.
There are actually some surprisingly intelligent arguments that insects, bacteria, some types of video game characters, and even fundamental particles might have non-zero moral weight. The question is what probability one gives to those propositions turning out to be true. IF one has reviewed the relevant arguments, and assigns them infinitesimally small credence, THEN one can safely apply the reductio ad absurdum. IF certain simple algorithms have no moral weight and the algorithms behind human brains have high moral weight, THEN algorithms almost as simple are unlikely to have whatever property gives humans value, while complex algorithms (like those running in dolphin brains) might still have intrinsic value.
Meta note before actual content: I’ve been noticing of late how many comments on LW, including my own, are nitpicks or small criticisms. Contrarianism is probably the root of why our kind can’t cooperate, and maybe even the reason so many people lurk and don’t post. So, let me preface this by thanking you for the post, and saying that I’m sharing this just as an FYI and not as a critique. This certainly isn’t a knock-down argument against anything you’ve said. Just something I thought was interesting, and might be helpful to keep in mind. :)
Clearly it was a moral error to assume that blacks had less moral weight than whites. The animal rights movement is basically just trying to make sure we don’t repeat this mistake with non-human animals. (Hence the use of terms like “speciesism”.) You use a couple reductio ad absurdum arguments with bacteria and video game characters, but it’s not entirely clear that we aren’t just socially biased there too. If the absurd turns out to be true, then the reductio ad absurdum fails. These arguments are valid ways of concluding “if A than B”, but keep in mind that A isn’t 100% certain.
There are actually some surprisingly intelligent arguments that insects, bacteria, some types of video game characters, and even fundamental particles might have non-zero moral weight. The question is what probability one gives to those propositions turning out to be true. IF one has reviewed the relevant arguments, and assigns them infinitesimally small credence, THEN one can safely apply the reductio ad absurdum. IF certain simple algorithms have no moral weight and the algorithms behind human brains have high moral weight, THEN algorithms almost as simple are unlikely to have whatever property gives humans value, while complex algorithms (like those running in dolphin brains) might still have intrinsic value.
I disagree that there is a fact of the matter to be mistaken about here (rather than just some consensus opinion that may change over time).