Why is teaching people to think like consequentialists a good idea again? Serious question.
Devil’s Advocating Here:
I do think we need to not forget that most people’s minds do NOT operate like the typical LWian!
I know this personally, in that I tend to make intuitive-based decisions (and by intuitive, I mean things like waking up one morning thinking “I should eat less meat”, and so becoming a vegetarian for the next 8 (so far) years.)
Decisions I have made intuitively like this include: atheism, vegetarianism, not drinking alcohol (that one only lasted 7 years), quitting grad school, not having children, polyamory, pretty much every career decision, liking rationality.
The social situations were different enough for each of these for me to think that social concerns were not the main trigger, but I somehow feel like I’ve ended up making rational-style choices by following my intuition (and I recognize that I probably just lost all credibility I might have had here by writing this post :P).
The upside of this, is that since I am always doing what I feel like, I rarely feel like I am having to fight myself. For example, giving up meat was amazingly easy for me, because it was like the decision had already been made.
From someone who really enjoys learning about rationality, I can still see how it wouldn’t mesh with many people’s methods of living, without a complete lifestyle overhaul (which is an unlikely result of a single class).
But I do not AT ALL think that this means that we shouldn’t teach people about consequentialism or other rationality topics (I am all about spreading rationality), I just think we need to make sure that we do so in a way that can encompass a wide range of people. First figure out what percentage of the overall population you want to be accessible to, (say the top 60% intellectually, MINUS the 20% most intuitive types) and make sure that your presentations and materials are able to reach whatever your target is.
Your intuition appears to like LW-approved things, and you are on LW. Don’t you think that learning about consequentialism might beneficially rewire one’s intuition?
If you are implying that learning about rationality on LW made my intuitions more rational, then you should know that I made all those decisions long before joining LW about 5 months ago.
However, I wouldn’t be surprised with the fact the LW conforms to most of my intuitions (except the whole anti-deathism and singularity stuff) as one of the reasons I joined the site. I remember thinking “OMGWTF there are people who are OPENLY POLY on here, outside of a poly-specific group!!!” I’m sure it doesn’t hurt that I find rationality and psychology to be amazingly interesting.
Devil’s Advocating Here:
I do think we need to not forget that most people’s minds do NOT operate like the typical LWian!
I know this personally, in that I tend to make intuitive-based decisions (and by intuitive, I mean things like waking up one morning thinking “I should eat less meat”, and so becoming a vegetarian for the next 8 (so far) years.)
Decisions I have made intuitively like this include: atheism, vegetarianism, not drinking alcohol (that one only lasted 7 years), quitting grad school, not having children, polyamory, pretty much every career decision, liking rationality.
The social situations were different enough for each of these for me to think that social concerns were not the main trigger, but I somehow feel like I’ve ended up making rational-style choices by following my intuition (and I recognize that I probably just lost all credibility I might have had here by writing this post :P).
The upside of this, is that since I am always doing what I feel like, I rarely feel like I am having to fight myself. For example, giving up meat was amazingly easy for me, because it was like the decision had already been made.
From someone who really enjoys learning about rationality, I can still see how it wouldn’t mesh with many people’s methods of living, without a complete lifestyle overhaul (which is an unlikely result of a single class).
But I do not AT ALL think that this means that we shouldn’t teach people about consequentialism or other rationality topics (I am all about spreading rationality), I just think we need to make sure that we do so in a way that can encompass a wide range of people. First figure out what percentage of the overall population you want to be accessible to, (say the top 60% intellectually, MINUS the 20% most intuitive types) and make sure that your presentations and materials are able to reach whatever your target is.
Your intuition appears to like LW-approved things, and you are on LW. Don’t you think that learning about consequentialism might beneficially rewire one’s intuition?
If you are implying that learning about rationality on LW made my intuitions more rational, then you should know that I made all those decisions long before joining LW about 5 months ago.
However, I wouldn’t be surprised with the fact the LW conforms to most of my intuitions (except the whole anti-deathism and singularity stuff) as one of the reasons I joined the site. I remember thinking “OMGWTF there are people who are OPENLY POLY on here, outside of a poly-specific group!!!” I’m sure it doesn’t hurt that I find rationality and psychology to be amazingly interesting.
Honestly, I’m not sure what I was thinking when I wrote that comment. I’m aware you joined rather recently...
Perhaps “intellectual beliefs and intuitions seem to be correlated, which suggests that one can rewire one by tinkering with the other.”