I just thought of another, larger and more unsettling problem. Although it’s kind of hard for me to explain, but I’ll try.
If the following statements are true:
The only reason we need pain is to notify us of damage to ourselves or to things that matter to us.
The only reason we need fear is to motivate us to avoid things that could cause damage to ourselves or things that matter to us.
The only reason we need happiness or pleasure is so that we are motivated to seek out things that would help us or things that matter to us.
The only reason we need beliefs is to predict reality.
Then I am extremely concerned about whether the answers to the following questions might doom the continued, dynamic existence of sentient life merely by its very nature:
What would life be like for sentient beings such as ourselves if we either eliminated damage to ourselves and the things that matter to us, or minimized that damage to the point where that damage was insignificant to our overall well-being, and therefore could be mostly ignored if we so chose, only dealt with in such a way to prevent it from becoming significant? In other words, what if we eliminated the need for pain? This was the question discussed in the article above.
What would life be like for sentient beings such as ourselves if we neutralized all threats to our survival and health, as well as eliminating all of the reasons we would have to misjudge something as a threat to our survival and health? Or at least minimized these threats and misjudgements of threat so that they are insignificant to our overall well-being and can be mostly ignored if we chose, only dealt with in such a way as to prevent them from becoming significant? In other words, what if we eliminated the need for fear?
What would life be like for sentient beings such as ourselves if the health, the safety, and the sustainability of the health and safety of all individual members of sentient species such as ourselves were maximized, to the point that we never needed to seek out things that help us or help the things that matter to us, or at least that the need for such help is minimized to the point of insignificance to our overall well-being, and therefore could be mostly ignored if we so chose, only dealt with in such a way to prevent it from becoming significant? In other words, what if we eliminated the need for happiness?
Note: i did notice that our very definition of “human health” and “overall-wellbeing” includes happiness, or perhaps average happiness. If you can’t feel happiness, then we say you’re not mentally healthy. I think this neglects the problem that we need happiness for a reason; it exists in the context of an environment where we need to seek out stimuli that help us, or at least that would have probably helped us in the ancestral environment. If we improve the capabilities of our own brains and bodies enough, eventually we will no longer need to rely on each other or on tools outside our own bodies and brains to compensate for our individual weaknesses. Which brings me to the fourth question.
(I am aware that it looks like a 1 instead of a 4. I don’t know why, since it looks like a 4 again when I go to edit it.) What if our mental models of reality became so accurate that they were identical, or nearly identical, to the point where the only difference between reality and our models of it was ever so slightly more than the time it took for us to receive sensory information? Could a human mind become a highly realistic simulation of the universe merely by learning how to increase its own mental capacity enough and systematically eliminating all false models of the universe? And in that case, how can we know if our own universe is not such a simulation? If it is, if our universe is a map of another universe, is it a perfect map? Or is there a small amount of error, even inconsistency in our own universe, which would not exist in the original?
I recently learned in a neuroscience class that thinking is by definition a problem-solving tool—a means to identify a path of causality from a current less desirable state to a more desirable goal state. At least that’s what I think it said. If we reached all possible goals, and ran out of possible goals to strive for, what do we do then? Generate a new virtual reality in which there are more possible goals to reach? Or stop thinking altogether? Something about both of those options doesn’t sound right for some reason.
I know it says on this very site that perfectionism is one of the twelve virtues of rationality, but then it says that the goal of perfection is impossible to reach. That doesn’t make sense to me. If the goal you are trying to reach is unattainable, then why attempt to attain it? Because the amount of effort you expend towards the unattainable goal of perfection allows you to reach better goal states than you otherwise would reach if you did not expend that much effort? But what if we found a way to make the amount of effort spent equal, or at least proportional or close to proportional to the actual desirability of the goal state that effort allows you to reach?
These questions are really bothering me.
I wrote a rationalist song relatively recently. It’s a pastiche of “Clear Mind” by Masaki Endoh, and shares the title. The melody is supposed to be mostly the same as the original song, but somewhat slower, and probably with different instruments. My version’s lyrics are quite different though.
Here’s the link to listen to the original song on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBcfTeVW61E&list=UUVLVBnJ37IQH1nZZHK2dOYA
The original song is an insert song that was in the anime Yugioh 5ds. It’s in japanese, but there’s an english translation in the video description.
And here’s my version:
Clear Mind
(instrumental)
I take a step back and I look all around me
To find the optimal way to realize my dreams
I put two plus two together and I see the answer clearly
With your burning curiosity
And your piercing intellect
Cut through the darkness of illusion to reality!
I’ve got to make my predictions as accurate as they can be
Because people are counting on me…
Keep on searching for the truth that lies beyond!
Don’t be fooled by the lies people tell to themselves or anyone else!
Keep on thinking through the problems facing you!
And you might just reach a better tomorrow with your sanity...with your Clear Mind!
Overcome your helpless confusion
Every mystery has a solution
But if you jump to conclusions you won’t find it—No way!
Once you’ve gathered all the clues you can
And the whole picture isn’t changing
Chances are you’ve solved the puzzle and it’s time to act!
--on your findings
If the world is cruel and bloody
Dark and insane
Then I’ll light it up with the power of my brain!
Keep on searching for the truth that lies beyond!
Don’t be fooled by the lies people tell to themselves or anyone else!
Keep on thinking through the problems facing you!
And you might just reach a better tomorrow with your sanity...with your Clear Mind!
(instrumental)
Keep on searching for the truth that lies beyond!
Don’t be fooled by the lies people tell to themselves or anyone else!
Keep on thinking through the problems facing you!
And you might just reach a better tomorrow with your sanity…
Keep on searching for the truth that lies beyond!
Don’t be fooled by the lies people tell to themselves or anyone else!
Keep on thinking through the problems facing you!
And you might just reach a better tomorrow with your sanity...
WIth rationality…
With your Clear Mind!
My flashdrive recently went missing and there is a chance it might have been stolen. These lyrics were on it. It would be nice if there’s someone in the community who’s willing to perform it before whatever hypothetical person who might have my flashdrive now claims the song for themself. Anyone who wants to record themselves performing it and publish the recording on Youtube or something is welcome to do so as long as you don’t pretend to be the songwriter and cite your sources properly.
I’m also curious about what the reactions are to this song. I hope the lyrics aren’t irrational, but since I’m relatively new to rationality I suppose the odds of it being completely rational aren’t that good. If it’s not completely rational than I would appreciate it if people suggest edits to the lyrics.
Thanks!