Eliezer: for ‘better’ vs ‘frooter,’ of course you’re right. I just would have phrased it differently; I’ve been known to claim that the word ‘better’ is completely meaningless unless you (are able to) follow it with “better at or for something.” So of course, Jadagul_real would say that his worldview is better for fulfilling his values. And Jadagul_hypothetical would say that his worldview is better for achieving his values. And both would (potentially) be correct. (or potentially wrong. I never claimed to be infallible, either in reality or in hypothesis). But phrasing issues aside, I do believe that I think this happens more often than you think it happens.
Sebastian Hagen: That’s actually a very good question. So a few answers. First is that I tend to go back and forth on whether by ‘happiness’ I mean something akin to “net stimulation of pleasure centers in brain,” or to “achievement of total package of values” (at which point the statement nears tautology, but I think doesn’t actually fall into it). But my moral code does include such statements as “you have no fundamental obligation to help other people.” I help people because I like to. So I lean towards formulation 1; but I’m not altogether certain that’s what I really mean.
Second is that your question, about the sociopath pill, is genuinely difficult for me. It reminds me of Nozick’s experience machine thought experiment. But I know that I keep getting short-circuited by statements like, “but I’d be miserable if I were a sociopath,” which is of course false by hypothesis. I think my final answer is that I’m such a social person and take such pleasure in people that were I to become a sociopath I would necessarily be someone else. That person wouldn’t be me. And while I care about whether I’m happy, I don’t know that I care about whether he is.
Of course, this all could be “I know the answer and now let me justify it.” On the other hand, the point of the exercise is to figure out what my moral intuitions are...
Eliezer: for ‘better’ vs ‘frooter,’ of course you’re right. I just would have phrased it differently; I’ve been known to claim that the word ‘better’ is completely meaningless unless you (are able to) follow it with “better at or for something.” So of course, Jadagul_real would say that his worldview is better for fulfilling his values. And Jadagul_hypothetical would say that his worldview is better for achieving his values. And both would (potentially) be correct. (or potentially wrong. I never claimed to be infallible, either in reality or in hypothesis). But phrasing issues aside, I do believe that I think this happens more often than you think it happens.
Sebastian Hagen: That’s actually a very good question. So a few answers. First is that I tend to go back and forth on whether by ‘happiness’ I mean something akin to “net stimulation of pleasure centers in brain,” or to “achievement of total package of values” (at which point the statement nears tautology, but I think doesn’t actually fall into it). But my moral code does include such statements as “you have no fundamental obligation to help other people.” I help people because I like to. So I lean towards formulation 1; but I’m not altogether certain that’s what I really mean.
Second is that your question, about the sociopath pill, is genuinely difficult for me. It reminds me of Nozick’s experience machine thought experiment. But I know that I keep getting short-circuited by statements like, “but I’d be miserable if I were a sociopath,” which is of course false by hypothesis. I think my final answer is that I’m such a social person and take such pleasure in people that were I to become a sociopath I would necessarily be someone else. That person wouldn’t be me. And while I care about whether I’m happy, I don’t know that I care about whether he is.
Of course, this all could be “I know the answer and now let me justify it.” On the other hand, the point of the exercise is to figure out what my moral intuitions are...