I would agree, if we define “useful” as “fulfills their own short-term emotional needs.” If those happen to correspond with their considered preferences, great. But that’s often a matter more of coincidence than anything else.
I was using ‘useful’ to mean ‘fulfills their predominately status oriented agenda’. How to relate people’s ‘considered preferences’ with well, the unconscious preferences that they actually act on is a somewhat different question. We probably do agree once we have people take a step back and realise status isn’t necessarily what will maximise their eudomonia in this day and age and for them rather than their genes. But that’s a rather huge step of personal development to overcome and I’m not quite willing to assume it into my usage of ‘useful’.
Actually, I was more talking about using positive instinctual responses, like compassion, encouragement, and enthusiasm, as well as simply behaving rationally. These are far less problematic than our instinctual negative responses.
Those do seem to be useful for most part. Although even then it can be useful to accept the compassion, suppress the instinctive reaction and, as they say, shut up and multiply. Even compassion is misguided at times.
I was using ‘useful’ to mean ‘fulfills their predominately status oriented agenda’. How to relate people’s ‘considered preferences’ with well, the unconscious preferences that they actually act on is a somewhat different question. We probably do agree once we have people take a step back and realise status isn’t necessarily what will maximise their eudomonia in this day and age and for them rather than their genes. But that’s a rather huge step of personal development to overcome and I’m not quite willing to assume it into my usage of ‘useful’.
Those do seem to be useful for most part. Although even then it can be useful to accept the compassion, suppress the instinctive reaction and, as they say, shut up and multiply. Even compassion is misguided at times.