I’m quite sure I’m not rounding when I prefer hearing a Wagner opera to hearing any number of folk dance tunes, and when I prefer reading a Vernor Vinge novel to hearing any number of Wagner operas. See also this comment for another example.
It seems, lexicographic preferences arise when one has a choice between qualitatively different experiences. In such cases, any differences in quantity, however vast, are just irrelevant. An experience of long unbearable torture cannot be quantified in terms of minor discomforts.
It seems our introspective accounts of our mental processes are qualitatively different, then.
I’m willing to take your word for it that your experience of long unbearable torture cannot be “quantified” in terms of minor discomforts. If you wish to argue that mine can’t either, I’m willing to listen.
I’m quite sure I’m not rounding when I prefer hearing a Wagner opera to hearing any number of folk dance tunes, and when I prefer reading a Vernor Vinge novel to hearing any number of Wagner operas. See also this comment for another example.
It seems, lexicographic preferences arise when one has a choice between qualitatively different experiences. In such cases, any differences in quantity, however vast, are just irrelevant. An experience of long unbearable torture cannot be quantified in terms of minor discomforts.
It seems our introspective accounts of our mental processes are qualitatively different, then.
I’m willing to take your word for it that your experience of long unbearable torture cannot be “quantified” in terms of minor discomforts. If you wish to argue that mine can’t either, I’m willing to listen.