I don’t think rational human beings are human beings at all. Why wouldn’t we make ourselves psychopaths in order to reduce suffering? Why would we not reduce emotions in order to become more rational?
Friendships are a human thing, an emotional thing, and something which is ruined by excess logic and calculation.
I argue that everything pretty in life, and everything optimal in life, are at odds with eachother. That good things are born from surplus, and even from wasting this surplus (e.g. parties, festivals, relaxation). And that everything ugly in life stems from optimization (exploitation, manipulation, bad faith).
I don’t even wish to become more rational than I am now, I can feel how it’s making me more nihilistic, how I must keep myself from thinking about things in order to enjoy them, how mental models get in the way of experiencing and feeling life, and living in the moment. I’d even argue that seeking ones own advantage in every situation is a a symptom of bad health, a feeling of desperacy and neediness, a fear of inadequacy.
That good things are born from surplus, and even from wasting this surplus (e.g. parties, festivals, relaxation). And that everything ugly in life stems from optimization (exploitation, manipulation, bad faith).
Yet I would think that there is some positive relation between “optimization” and “surplus”. You can enjoy wine at the party, because someone spent a lot of time thinking how to produce and distribute it cheaply.
That’s true. But somebody who optimizes excessively would consider it irrational to purchase any wine. This was just an example, it’s not very valuable on its own, but if you generalize the idea or isolate the mechanism which leads to it, I think you will find that it’s rather pervasive.
To illustrate my point differently: Mass-producing cubes is much more efficient than it is to build pretty housing with some soul and aesthetical value. So optimization is already, in some sense, in conflict with human values. Extrapolating the current development of society, I predict that the already lacking sense of humanity and realness is going to disappear completely. You may think that the dead internet theory and such are unintended side-effects that we will deal with in time, but I believe that they’re mathematically unavoidable consequences. “Human choice” and “optimal choice” go in different directions, and our human choices are being corrected in the name of optimization and safety.
Being unoptimal is almost treated as a form of self-harm nowadays, but the life which is not genuine is not life at all, in my eyes. So I’m not deriving any benefits from being steered in such a mechanical direction (I’m not accusing you of doing this)
I don’t think rational human beings are human beings at all. Why wouldn’t we make ourselves psychopaths in order to reduce suffering? Why would we not reduce emotions in order to become more rational?
Friendships are a human thing, an emotional thing, and something which is ruined by excess logic and calculation.
I argue that everything pretty in life, and everything optimal in life, are at odds with eachother. That good things are born from surplus, and even from wasting this surplus (e.g. parties, festivals, relaxation). And that everything ugly in life stems from optimization (exploitation, manipulation, bad faith).
I don’t even wish to become more rational than I am now, I can feel how it’s making me more nihilistic, how I must keep myself from thinking about things in order to enjoy them, how mental models get in the way of experiencing and feeling life, and living in the moment. I’d even argue that seeking ones own advantage in every situation is a a symptom of bad health, a feeling of desperacy and neediness, a fear of inadequacy.
Yet I would think that there is some positive relation between “optimization” and “surplus”. You can enjoy wine at the party, because someone spent a lot of time thinking how to produce and distribute it cheaply.
That’s true. But somebody who optimizes excessively would consider it irrational to purchase any wine. This was just an example, it’s not very valuable on its own, but if you generalize the idea or isolate the mechanism which leads to it, I think you will find that it’s rather pervasive.
To illustrate my point differently: Mass-producing cubes is much more efficient than it is to build pretty housing with some soul and aesthetical value. So optimization is already, in some sense, in conflict with human values. Extrapolating the current development of society, I predict that the already lacking sense of humanity and realness is going to disappear completely. You may think that the dead internet theory and such are unintended side-effects that we will deal with in time, but I believe that they’re mathematically unavoidable consequences. “Human choice” and “optimal choice” go in different directions, and our human choices are being corrected in the name of optimization and safety.
Being unoptimal is almost treated as a form of self-harm nowadays, but the life which is not genuine is not life at all, in my eyes. So I’m not deriving any benefits from being steered in such a mechanical direction (I’m not accusing you of doing this)