There’s an assumption here and in some of the comments that everyone who is intelligent and honest will necessarily have much the same views on all political issues.
Looking at the real world, if that’s true then hardly anyone can be intelligent and honest. Who will you vote for if the most intelligent and honest politician on offer thinks you should be put up against the wall and shot? You talk about politicians making the “right” decision, but what that is depends as much on what the goal is as on what actions will lead towards it.
If you vote at all, the one you should vote for is the one who is generally of the same mind as you regarding the sort of society you want to live in, and is intelligent, honest, canny, charismatic, hard-working, and so on; but first of all they have to be someone who will work for generally the things you would want them to. You do not want to vote for a smart enemy.
Right. Hitler, by all accounts written by people who knew him, was extremely capable, and had a character that would be judged noble and unselfish, if you didn’t look at his values.
There’s an assumption here and in some of the comments that everyone who is intelligent and honest will necessarily have much the same views on all political issues.
Looking at the real world, if that’s true then hardly anyone can be intelligent and honest. Who will you vote for if the most intelligent and honest politician on offer thinks you should be put up against the wall and shot? You talk about politicians making the “right” decision, but what that is depends as much on what the goal is as on what actions will lead towards it.
If you vote at all, the one you should vote for is the one who is generally of the same mind as you regarding the sort of society you want to live in, and is intelligent, honest, canny, charismatic, hard-working, and so on; but first of all they have to be someone who will work for generally the things you would want them to. You do not want to vote for a smart enemy.
I thought that was the LessWrong consensus.
Right. Hitler, by all accounts written by people who knew him, was extremely capable, and had a character that would be judged noble and unselfish, if you didn’t look at his values.