I’d argue that they inevitably are the ultimate metric, and all we can do about it is become more conscious of that and pursue them more intentionally.
It means we’ll get better at predicting the net return in pleasure of different choices. And especially, we’ll become more aware of long-term consequences (because our system 1 is often biased toward short-term pleasures, which is liable to reduce total net lifetime pleasure).
We verify this process by taking stock of the amount and degree of regret we feel. By “regret” here I mean whenever you wish you could go back in time and choose differently.
I like the “how to weigh multiple values” frame.
But to use the initial argument in the post, why should pleasure and pain be the ultimate metric?
I’d argue that they inevitably are the ultimate metric, and all we can do about it is become more conscious of that and pursue them more intentionally.
But how do you verify that? What does it mean (to you) to become more conscious of it?
It means we’ll get better at predicting the net return in pleasure of different choices. And especially, we’ll become more aware of long-term consequences (because our system 1 is often biased toward short-term pleasures, which is liable to reduce total net lifetime pleasure).
We verify this process by taking stock of the amount and degree of regret we feel. By “regret” here I mean whenever you wish you could go back in time and choose differently.