Yes, it all hinges on that missing citation about continuity of brain function. After 23 years of studying brain computations, I’ve reached the conclusion that a sharp discuntinuity relevant to suffering is wishful thinking. But that requires a good deal more discussion.
This is a much deeper issue. I probably shouldn’t have commented about it so briefly. I’ve resisted commenting on this on LW because it’s an unpopular opinion, and it’s practically way less important than aligning AGI so we survive to work through our ethics.
For now I’ll just ask you to consider what direction your bias pulls in. I’d far prefer to believe that fish don’t suffer. And I humbly suggest that rationalists aren’t immune to confirmation bias.
Yes, it all hinges on that missing citation about continuity of brain function.
Just on this? Nothing else?
It seems to me that there are quite a few controversial, questionable, or unjustified claims and steps of reasoning involved, beyond this one!
If you disagree—well, I await your persuasive argument to that effect…
For now I’ll just ask you to consider what direction your bias pulls in. I’d far prefer to believe that fish don’t suffer. And I humbly suggest that rationalists aren’t immune to confirmation bias.
Certainly I am not immune to confirmation bias! (I prefer to avoid labeling myself a “rationalist”, though I don’t necessarily object to the term as a description of the social-graph sort…)
But that by itself tells me nothing. To change my beliefs about something, you do actually have to convince me that there’s some reason to update. Just saying “ah, but you could be biased” isn’t enough. Of course I could be biased. This is true of any of my beliefs, on any topic.
Meanwhile, here’s something for you to consider. Suppose you convinced me that fish can suffer. (Let’s avoid specifying how much it turns out that they can suffer, or whether comparing their suffering to that of humans is meaningful; we will say only that they do, in some basically ordinary and not exotic or bizarre sense of the word, exhibit some degree of suffering.)
Yes, it all hinges on that missing citation about continuity of brain function. After 23 years of studying brain computations, I’ve reached the conclusion that a sharp discuntinuity relevant to suffering is wishful thinking. But that requires a good deal more discussion.
This is a much deeper issue. I probably shouldn’t have commented about it so briefly. I’ve resisted commenting on this on LW because it’s an unpopular opinion, and it’s practically way less important than aligning AGI so we survive to work through our ethics.
For now I’ll just ask you to consider what direction your bias pulls in. I’d far prefer to believe that fish don’t suffer. And I humbly suggest that rationalists aren’t immune to confirmation bias.
Just on this? Nothing else?
It seems to me that there are quite a few controversial, questionable, or unjustified claims and steps of reasoning involved, beyond this one!
If you disagree—well, I await your persuasive argument to that effect…
Certainly I am not immune to confirmation bias! (I prefer to avoid labeling myself a “rationalist”, though I don’t necessarily object to the term as a description of the social-graph sort…)
But that by itself tells me nothing. To change my beliefs about something, you do actually have to convince me that there’s some reason to update. Just saying “ah, but you could be biased” isn’t enough. Of course I could be biased. This is true of any of my beliefs, on any topic.
Meanwhile, here’s something for you to consider. Suppose you convinced me that fish can suffer. (Let’s avoid specifying how much it turns out that they can suffer, or whether comparing their suffering to that of humans is meaningful; we will say only that they do, in some basically ordinary and not exotic or bizarre sense of the word, exhibit some degree of suffering.)
Would I stop eating fish? Nope.