On a practical level, it often seems to have something to do with people being more willing to work harder for the benefit of people they identify as ‘themselves’ than they would work for ‘other people’, such as being willing to do things that are unpleasant now so their ‘future selves’ will enjoy less unpleasantness.
Out of the various people in the future who might or might not fall under the category of ‘yourself’, for which of them would you be willing to avoid eating a marshmallow now, so that those people could enjoy /two/ marshmallows?
It seems like abstracting that a bit could lead to a memetic equivalent to kin selection. I am intrigued, and will meditate on this further.
I think I’d just eat an ordinary marshmallow now, but (for myself or someone else) make the effort to get two marshmallows if it was something like the artisanal marshmallow with a delicate maple sugar crust (carmellized maple syrup?) that I had recently.
And that’s one of the ways you can tell whether it’s me or not.
This appeals to me, however like you mentioned, on a practical level there might be a desire make distinctions. Your example of forgoing a marshmallow now, so that those like you can have two, is a good example that.
It seems like abstracting that a bit could lead to a memetic equivalent to kin selection. I am intrigued, and will meditate on this further.
I think I’d just eat an ordinary marshmallow now, but (for myself or someone else) make the effort to get two marshmallows if it was something like the artisanal marshmallow with a delicate maple sugar crust (carmellized maple syrup?) that I had recently.
And that’s one of the ways you can tell whether it’s me or not.
Here is what Parfit had to say:
This appeals to me, however like you mentioned, on a practical level there might be a desire make distinctions. Your example of forgoing a marshmallow now, so that those like you can have two, is a good example that.