“Suppose you learned, suddenly and definitively, that nothing is moral and nothing is right; that everything is permissible and nothing is forbidden.”
First Existential Crisis: Age 15
“Would you wear black and write gloomy poetry and denounce all altruists as fools?”
Been there, done that.
“But there’s no reason you should do that—it’s just a cached thought.”
Realized this.
“Would you stay in bed because there was no reason to get up?”
Tried that.
“What about when you finally got hungry and stumbled into the kitchen—what would you do after you were done eating?”
Stare at the wall.
“Would you go on reading Overcoming Bias, and if not, what would you read instead?”
Shakespeare, Nitzsche
“Would you still try to be rational, and if not, what would you think instead”
No—Came up with entire philosophy of “It doesn’t matter if anything I say, do, or think is consistent with itself or each other… everything in my head has been set up by the universe- my parents ideas of right and wrong- television- paternalistic hopes of approving/forgiving/nonexistent god and his ability to grant immortality, so why should I worry about trying to put it together in any kind of sensible fashion? Let it all sort itself out...
“What would you do, if nothing were right?”
What felt best.
“Suppose you learned, suddenly and definitively, that nothing is moral and nothing is right; that everything is permissible and nothing is forbidden.”
First Existential Crisis: Age 15
“Would you wear black and write gloomy poetry and denounce all altruists as fools?”
Been there, done that.
“But there’s no reason you should do that—it’s just a cached thought.”
Realized this.
“Would you stay in bed because there was no reason to get up?”
Tried that.
“What about when you finally got hungry and stumbled into the kitchen—what would you do after you were done eating?”
Stare at the wall.
“Would you go on reading Overcoming Bias, and if not, what would you read instead?”
Shakespeare, Nitzsche
“Would you still try to be rational, and if not, what would you think instead”
No—Came up with entire philosophy of “It doesn’t matter if anything I say, do, or think is consistent with itself or each other… everything in my head has been set up by the universe- my parents ideas of right and wrong- television- paternalistic hopes of approving/forgiving/nonexistent god and his ability to grant immortality, so why should I worry about trying to put it together in any kind of sensible fashion? Let it all sort itself out...
“What would you do, if nothing were right?” What felt best.