I agree generally that this is what an irrational value would mean. However, the presiding implicit assumption was that the utilitarian ends were the correct, and therefore the presiding explicit assumption (or at least, I thought it was presiding… now I can’t seem to get anyone to defend it, so maybe not) was that therefore the most efficient means to these particular ends were the most rational.
Maybe I was misunderstanding the presiding assumption, though. It was just stuff like this:
Lesswrongers will be encouraged to learn that the Torchwood characters were rationalists to a man and woman—there was little hesitation in agreeing to the 456′s demands.
Or this, in response to a call to “dignity”:
How many lives is your dignity worth? Would you be willing to actually kill people for your dignity, or are you only willing to make that transaction if someone else is holding the knife?
I agree generally that this is what an irrational value would mean. However, the presiding implicit assumption was that the utilitarian ends were the correct, and therefore the presiding explicit assumption (or at least, I thought it was presiding… now I can’t seem to get anyone to defend it, so maybe not) was that therefore the most efficient means to these particular ends were the most rational.
Maybe I was misunderstanding the presiding assumption, though. It was just stuff like this:
Or this, in response to a call to “dignity”: