In particular, my values seem to be pinned on ideas that are not true—that states of the universe matter, objectively rather than just subjectively, and that I exist forever/always.
Well, if they are, and if I understand what you mean by “pinned on,” then we should expect the strength of those values to weaken as you stop investing in those ideas.
I can’t tell from your discussion whether you don’t find this to be true (in which case I would question what makes you think the values are pinned on the ideas in the first place), or whether you’re unable to test because you haven’t been able to stop investing in those ideas in the first place.
If it’s the latter, though… what have you tried, and what failure modes have you encountered?
My values seem to be pinned on these ideas (the ones that are not true) because while I am in the process of caring about the things I care about, and especially when I am making a choice about something, I find that I am always making the assumption that these ideas are true—that the states of the universe matter and that I exist forever.
When it occurs to me to remember that these assumptions are not true, I feel a great deal of cognitive dissonance. However, the cognitive dissonance has no resolution. I think about it for a little while, go about my business, and discover some time later I forgot again.
I don’t know if a specific example will help or not. I am driving home, in traffic, and brain is happily buzzing with thoughts. I am thinking about all the people in cars around me and how I’m part of a huge social network and whether the traffic is as efficient as it could be and civilization and how I am going to go home and what I am going to do. And then I remember about death, the snuffing out of my awareness, and something about that just doesn’t connect. It’s like I can empathize with my own non-existence (hopefully this example is something more than just a moment of psychological disorder) and I feel that my current existence is a mirage. Or rather, the moral weight that I’ve given it doesn’t make sense. That’s what the cognitive dissonance feels like.
Well, if they are, and if I understand what you mean by “pinned on,” then we should expect the strength of those values to weaken as you stop investing in those ideas.
I can’t tell from your discussion whether you don’t find this to be true (in which case I would question what makes you think the values are pinned on the ideas in the first place), or whether you’re unable to test because you haven’t been able to stop investing in those ideas in the first place.
If it’s the latter, though… what have you tried, and what failure modes have you encountered?
My values seem to be pinned on these ideas (the ones that are not true) because while I am in the process of caring about the things I care about, and especially when I am making a choice about something, I find that I am always making the assumption that these ideas are true—that the states of the universe matter and that I exist forever.
When it occurs to me to remember that these assumptions are not true, I feel a great deal of cognitive dissonance. However, the cognitive dissonance has no resolution. I think about it for a little while, go about my business, and discover some time later I forgot again.
I don’t know if a specific example will help or not. I am driving home, in traffic, and brain is happily buzzing with thoughts. I am thinking about all the people in cars around me and how I’m part of a huge social network and whether the traffic is as efficient as it could be and civilization and how I am going to go home and what I am going to do. And then I remember about death, the snuffing out of my awareness, and something about that just doesn’t connect. It’s like I can empathize with my own non-existence (hopefully this example is something more than just a moment of psychological disorder) and I feel that my current existence is a mirage. Or rather, the moral weight that I’ve given it doesn’t make sense. That’s what the cognitive dissonance feels like.