it may be clearer to consider counterfactual mes of every possible sexual orientation, and comparing the justifications they can come up with for why it’s egosyntonic to have the orientation that they have.
I think that maybe all of them would be perfectly justifying in saying that their sexual orientation is a terminal value and the buck stops there.
On the other hand, I’m nowhere near 100% sure I wouldn’t take a pill to make me bisexual.
If you kept all of my values the same and deleted my sexual orientation, what would regrow?
I think a way to help tease out your intuition would be Bostrom’s reversal test. If transhumanist scientists invented a new kind of sexual orientation, a new kind of sexual experiences, and so on, would you want to be modified to be able to enjoy this new, never before seen type of sex. I don’t know how you’d reply, for me it would probably be yes or no, depending on specific details of the new kind of sex.
I think the reason I would sometimes say yes is that I have a strong preexisting preference for novelty and novel experiences. So my desire for new sexual preferences would grow out of that.
Incidentally, Bostrom’s reversal test also supports my intuitions about deafness. If transhumanists invented new senses that no human has ever had before, would I want to have them if there were no side effects? Of course I would! I especially want to be able to sense magnetic fields like sharks can.
I think that maybe all of them would be perfectly justifying in saying that their sexual orientation is a terminal value and the buck stops there.
On the other hand, I’m nowhere near 100% sure I wouldn’t take a pill to make me bisexual.
I think a way to help tease out your intuition would be Bostrom’s reversal test. If transhumanist scientists invented a new kind of sexual orientation, a new kind of sexual experiences, and so on, would you want to be modified to be able to enjoy this new, never before seen type of sex. I don’t know how you’d reply, for me it would probably be yes or no, depending on specific details of the new kind of sex.
I think the reason I would sometimes say yes is that I have a strong preexisting preference for novelty and novel experiences. So my desire for new sexual preferences would grow out of that.
Incidentally, Bostrom’s reversal test also supports my intuitions about deafness. If transhumanists invented new senses that no human has ever had before, would I want to have them if there were no side effects? Of course I would! I especially want to be able to sense magnetic fields like sharks can.