it is merely a reflection of his spherical-cow utilitarianism that has nothing at all to do with the actual human moral instincts—or any other actual aspect of humanity, for that matter
Perhaps that is a little harsh.
The advantage of efficiently caring about other people in your community is that it is efficient. Our countries would be better if people were at least efficient in the way they cared for each other. For example, I’d trade people not calling 911 if I were hurt for those same people spending an hour a week reading about cognitive biases or each donating $30 to SENS.
The same holds for the world at large, though the inefficiencies introduced by different races and cultures trying to cooperate makes me distrustful of international aid.
To be precise, I said that specifically about Singer’s philosophy, of which I really don’t think anything good (I’m generally allergic to utilitarianism, and I find Singer’s variant especially noxious). I’m not saying all his conclusions are as outlandish as the philosophy he uses to derive them; some things he says can still be reasonable in a stopped-clock sort of way.
The same holds for the world at large, though the inefficiencies introduced by different races and cultures trying to cooperate makes me distrustful of international aid.
I’d say that the problems of unintended consequences go far beyond inefficiency losses, and even beyond the complaints voiced by Shikwati in that article I linked. But that’s a complex topic in its own right.
Nah, that wouldn’t deter me. In the interest of my own intellectual improvement, I have developed the ability to read through arbitrarily obnoxious stuff, much like medical students develop the ability to overcome the normal disgust of dissection and handling corpses.
Perhaps that is a little harsh.
The advantage of efficiently caring about other people in your community is that it is efficient. Our countries would be better if people were at least efficient in the way they cared for each other. For example, I’d trade people not calling 911 if I were hurt for those same people spending an hour a week reading about cognitive biases or each donating $30 to SENS.
The same holds for the world at large, though the inefficiencies introduced by different races and cultures trying to cooperate makes me distrustful of international aid.
Roko:
To be precise, I said that specifically about Singer’s philosophy, of which I really don’t think anything good (I’m generally allergic to utilitarianism, and I find Singer’s variant especially noxious). I’m not saying all his conclusions are as outlandish as the philosophy he uses to derive them; some things he says can still be reasonable in a stopped-clock sort of way.
I’d say that the problems of unintended consequences go far beyond inefficiency losses, and even beyond the complaints voiced by Shikwati in that article I linked. But that’s a complex topic in its own right.
So if I ever need to defeat you, forget the Kryptonite, just brandish a copy of “the life you can save”?
Nah, that wouldn’t deter me. In the interest of my own intellectual improvement, I have developed the ability to read through arbitrarily obnoxious stuff, much like medical students develop the ability to overcome the normal disgust of dissection and handling corpses.