Well, health, wealth, and location are all things that usually can be fixed or improved in some way. Intelligence is pretty much set though, which makes it more unfair on average.
Well, health, wealth, and location are all things that usually can be fixed or improved in some way.
I’d agree that they can sometimes be fixed, but I don’t think I’d say usually. That might be true here in the “civilised” world, but thousands die from entirely preventable diseases like malaria (apparently 881,000 people a year! source)
So, the thing about health and wealth, is that once you have enough of ithem you can leverage that to help preserve it—once you’re healthy enough to live to adulthood, you can take responsibility for your life and build a fiscal empire. Once you’re wealthy enough, you can afford a few health issues.
I don’t see anything that suggests that the actual, practical gains from intelligence are of a different nature. You might not be able to improve your IQ, your raw cognitive speed, although even that seems a questionable assumption. Certainly, though, you can learn a vast set of skills that improves your “applied” or “functional” intelligence. And, just like health and wealth, the people who already have an advantage, get an exponentially larger advantage because they can take advantage of resources like a university or LessWrong.
I agree that they’re all very unfair, and I take back what I said about “usually”. However, I still think intelligence (IQ, not functional intelligence) is the most unfair because one isn’t going to be able to change it.
I agree that they’re all very unfair, and I take back what I said about “usually”. However, I still think intelligence (IQ, not functional intelligence) is the most unfair because one isn’t going to be able to change it.
People who die from malaria or starvation in third world countries don’t tend to live through intelligence explosions, either in corpsicle or meat sack forms.
That is unfair. I think we’re talking around eachother though, because I’m not trying to say that intelligence has the most unfair consequences, I meant that one can’t change it no matter how much one wants to or needs to or whatnot. Yes, the other ones can’t always be changed, but on average intelligence is the most unchangeable .
Well, health, wealth, and location are all things that usually can be fixed or improved in some way. Intelligence is pretty much set though, which makes it more unfair on average.
I’d agree that they can sometimes be fixed, but I don’t think I’d say usually. That might be true here in the “civilised” world, but thousands die from entirely preventable diseases like malaria (apparently 881,000 people a year! source)
So, the thing about health and wealth, is that once you have enough of ithem you can leverage that to help preserve it—once you’re healthy enough to live to adulthood, you can take responsibility for your life and build a fiscal empire. Once you’re wealthy enough, you can afford a few health issues.
I don’t see anything that suggests that the actual, practical gains from intelligence are of a different nature. You might not be able to improve your IQ, your raw cognitive speed, although even that seems a questionable assumption. Certainly, though, you can learn a vast set of skills that improves your “applied” or “functional” intelligence. And, just like health and wealth, the people who already have an advantage, get an exponentially larger advantage because they can take advantage of resources like a university or LessWrong.
I agree that they’re all very unfair, and I take back what I said about “usually”. However, I still think intelligence (IQ, not functional intelligence) is the most unfair because one isn’t going to be able to change it.
People who die from malaria or starvation in third world countries don’t tend to live through intelligence explosions, either in corpsicle or meat sack forms.
That is unfair. I think we’re talking around eachother though, because I’m not trying to say that intelligence has the most unfair consequences, I meant that one can’t change it no matter how much one wants to or needs to or whatnot. Yes, the other ones can’t always be changed, but on average intelligence is the most unchangeable .