I think the general view is more nuanced. If there is a LW theory of selflessness/selfishness, Robin Hanson would be able to articulate it far better than I; but here’s my shot:
“Selflessness” is an incoherent concept. When you think of being selfless, you think of actions to make other people better off by your own value system. Your own value system may dictate that fulfilling other people’s value systems makes them better off, or yours may say that changing others’ value systems to “believing in Jesus is good” makes them better off.
The latter concept is actually more coherent than the first, because if one of those other systems includes a very high utility for “everyone else dies,” you cannot make everyone better off.
Many LW members place a high value on altruism, but they don’t call themselves selfless; they understand that they’re fulfilling a value system which places a high utility on, for lack of a better word, universal eudaimonia.
Agreed. If “selfish” means “pursuing things if and only if they accord with one’s own values”, then most people here would say that every value-pursuing agent is selfish by definition.
But, for that very reason (among other things), that definition is not a useful one. A useful definition of “selfish” is closer to “valuing oneself above all other things.” And this is not universally agreed to be good around here.
I might value myself a great deal, but it’s highly unlikely that I would, upon reflection, value myself over all other things. If I had to choose between destroying either myself or the entire rest of the universe (beyond the bare minimum that I need to stay alive), I would obliterate myself in an instant. I expect that most people here would make the same choice in the same situation.
I think the general view is more nuanced. If there is a LW theory of selflessness/selfishness, Robin Hanson would be able to articulate it far better than I; but here’s my shot:
“Selflessness” is an incoherent concept. When you think of being selfless, you think of actions to make other people better off by your own value system. Your own value system may dictate that fulfilling other people’s value systems makes them better off, or yours may say that changing others’ value systems to “believing in Jesus is good” makes them better off.
The latter concept is actually more coherent than the first, because if one of those other systems includes a very high utility for “everyone else dies,” you cannot make everyone better off.
Many LW members place a high value on altruism, but they don’t call themselves selfless; they understand that they’re fulfilling a value system which places a high utility on, for lack of a better word, universal eudaimonia.
Agreed. If “selfish” means “pursuing things if and only if they accord with one’s own values”, then most people here would say that every value-pursuing agent is selfish by definition.
But, for that very reason (among other things), that definition is not a useful one. A useful definition of “selfish” is closer to “valuing oneself above all other things.” And this is not universally agreed to be good around here.
I might value myself a great deal, but it’s highly unlikely that I would, upon reflection, value myself over all other things. If I had to choose between destroying either myself or the entire rest of the universe (beyond the bare minimum that I need to stay alive), I would obliterate myself in an instant. I expect that most people here would make the same choice in the same situation.