I’m not sure we should take a DSM diagnosis to be particularly strong evidence of a “fundamental misunderstanding of the world”. For instance, while people with delusions may clearly have poor models of the world, some research indicates that clinically depressed people may have lower levels of particular cognitive biases.
In order for “disregard for [...] the rights of others” to imply “a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of the world”, it seems to me that we would have to assume that rights are part of the nature of the world — as opposed to, e.g., a construct of a particular political regime in society. Or are you suggesting that psychopathy amounts to an inability to think about sociopolitical facts?
fubarobfusco, I share your reservations about DSM. Nonetheless, the egocentric illusion, i.e. I am the centre of the universe other people / sentient beings have only walk-on parts, is an illusion. Insofar as my behaviour reflects my pre-scientific sense that I am in some way special or ontologically privileged, I am deluded. This is true regardless of whether one’s ontology allows for the existence of rights or treats them as a useful fiction. The people we commonly label “psychopaths” or “sociopaths”—and DSM now categorises as victims of “antisocial personality disorder”—manifest this syndrome of egocentricity in high degree. So does burger-eating Jane.
For instance, while people with delusions may clearly have poor models of the world, some research indicates that clinically depressed people may have lower levels of particular cognitive biases.
Huh, I hadn’t heard that.
Clearly, reality is so Lovecraftian that any unbiased agent will immediately realize self-destruction is optimal. Evolution equipped us with our suite of biases to defend against this. The Great Filter is caused by bootstrapping superintelligences being compassionate enough to take their compatriots with them. And so on.
I’m not sure we should take a DSM diagnosis to be particularly strong evidence of a “fundamental misunderstanding of the world”. For instance, while people with delusions may clearly have poor models of the world, some research indicates that clinically depressed people may have lower levels of particular cognitive biases.
In order for “disregard for [...] the rights of others” to imply “a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of the world”, it seems to me that we would have to assume that rights are part of the nature of the world — as opposed to, e.g., a construct of a particular political regime in society. Or are you suggesting that psychopathy amounts to an inability to think about sociopolitical facts?
fubarobfusco, I share your reservations about DSM. Nonetheless, the egocentric illusion, i.e. I am the centre of the universe other people / sentient beings have only walk-on parts, is an illusion. Insofar as my behaviour reflects my pre-scientific sense that I am in some way special or ontologically privileged, I am deluded. This is true regardless of whether one’s ontology allows for the existence of rights or treats them as a useful fiction. The people we commonly label “psychopaths” or “sociopaths”—and DSM now categorises as victims of “antisocial personality disorder”—manifest this syndrome of egocentricity in high degree. So does burger-eating Jane.
Huh, I hadn’t heard that.
Clearly, reality is so Lovecraftian that any unbiased agent will immediately realize self-destruction is optimal. Evolution equipped us with our suite of biases to defend against this. The Great Filter is caused by bootstrapping superintelligences being compassionate enough to take their compatriots with them. And so on.
Now that’s a Cosmic Horror story I’d read ;)