And which would you rather be—a great scientist, or a great artist of some type? (Pretend that great scientists and great artists are equally well-paid and sexually attractive.)
In a world where war, death and suffering are dealt with for good, I’d be an artist (Edit: who, nevertheless, is intrinsically interested in some scientific problems such as abiogenesis, origin of sexual reproduction, life based on non-DNA replication, Fermi paradox, simulation hypothesis etc.)
In today’s world, I’d be a scientist—even if scientists had less money and sexiness than artists.
Edit: Haven’t noticed this: “Also, ignore the possibility that your scientific work can make a safe Singularity. That would be science as instrumental value. I’m asking about science vs. art as intrinsic values.” In my reply above, I chose science because it can fix the world, so it looks like I was going for its instrumental value.
In a world where war, death and suffering are dealt with for good, I’d be an artist (Edit: who, nevertheless, is intrinsically interested in some scientific problems such as abiogenesis, origin of sexual reproduction, life based on non-DNA replication, Fermi paradox, simulation hypothesis etc.)
In today’s world, I’d be a scientist—even if scientists had less money and sexiness than artists.
Edit: Haven’t noticed this: “Also, ignore the possibility that your scientific work can make a safe Singularity. That would be science as instrumental value. I’m asking about science vs. art as intrinsic values.” In my reply above, I chose science because it can fix the world, so it looks like I was going for its instrumental value.