pjeby comments on Scott Aaronson's "On Self-Delusion and Bounded Rationality" - Less Wrong
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Comments (48)
I'm skeptical of Roissy's claim, but I'm not sure your examples are as obvious or convincing as you seem to think.
Unless I'm extremely atypical (which is possible), it is incorrect to say that superstimulant foods and masturbation bring happiness. They bring contentment, which is different and less satisfying. To the extent that this is a definitional dispute, the happiness they bring is far weaker and far more evanescent compared to e.g. feeling like part of a group, feeling like you've "made a difference", etc.
Next, regarding forced reproduction, if it had to be forced, it was a kind of reproduction that the victim's evolved architecture did not judge to be genetically optimal.
Rape is a bit trickier, for a number of reasons, but it's clear why it would have questionable, not stricktly good impact on genes. As cousin_it mentioned, someone who rapes you is unlikely to stick around to provide resources for the kids. And like with forced reproduction, the fact that it had to be forced is evidence your body doesn't regard it as furthering your genes.
Now, to play devil's advocate, there is the Sexy Son Hypothesis, WHICH I DON'T ENDORSE, which says that the actual father's willingness to commit is irrelevant because you can just rook a productive male into thinking the baby's his. So being raped means you get a son (if a boy) who can successfully rape other women, who then rook another man into raising that son, etc. But again, against the clear disadvantages of being raped, this at best proves, under Roissy's theory, why the woman would feel conflicted, not happy.
Endorse meaning, "consider true", or endorse meaning, "consider morally good"? I could understand the latter (so few things about evolution can be considered "good", after all), but don't get the former. Do you think it's untrue?
Enough people who read that post won't be able to tell the difference.
You can figure it out from there, I think.
The only clear implication I can take from that is that you believe the people in this environment are poor at distinguishing between statements of fact and moral assertions when it comes to potentially sensitive topics.
Oh. Hang on. Took me a while but I can figure it out from there after all. I've reversed my downvote. Reasonable answer.