It’s a Chesterton’s Fence trespassing because every single other person would say that you can’t mistreat a computer. If you don’t understand why everyone thinks this way, beyond just “well, they’re ignorant”, you shouldn’t be treating the opposite seriously.
I’m not sure what you think Chesterton’s fence is, but I’ve never heard it used straightfowardly as a plea to do what everybody else is doing for Modest Epistemology reasons.
I understand your concern, about the authors deviating from a consensus without good reasons. However, from the authors’ perspective, they probably believe that they have compelling arguments to support their view, and therefore think they’re rejecting the consensus for valid reasons. In this case, just pointing to Chesterton’s fence isn’t going to resolve the disagreement.
Since so much around consciousness is highly debated and complex (or as some might hold simple and trivial but difficult to see for the others), departing from the consensus isn’t automatically a mistake, which I think is the same as or close to what @lc points out.
It’s a Chesterton’s Fence trespassing because every single other person would say that you can’t mistreat a computer. If you don’t understand why everyone thinks this way, beyond just “well, they’re ignorant”, you shouldn’t be treating the opposite seriously.
I’m not sure what you think Chesterton’s fence is, but I’ve never heard it used straightfowardly as a plea to do what everybody else is doing for Modest Epistemology reasons.
Everyone is ignorant about consciousness and ethics, even the experts.
I understand your concern, about the authors deviating from a consensus without good reasons. However, from the authors’ perspective, they probably believe that they have compelling arguments to support their view, and therefore think they’re rejecting the consensus for valid reasons. In this case, just pointing to Chesterton’s fence isn’t going to resolve the disagreement.
Since so much around consciousness is highly debated and complex (or as some might hold simple and trivial but difficult to see for the others), departing from the consensus isn’t automatically a mistake, which I think is the same as or close to what @lc points out.