pjeby comments on Scott Aaronson's "On Self-Delusion and Bounded Rationality" - Less Wrong

16 Post author: cousin_it 18 August 2009 07:17PM

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Comment author: SilasBarta 19 August 2009 03:52:47PM 0 points [-]

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.

Comment author: pjeby 19 August 2009 06:14:38PM 2 points [-]

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.

By the way, this isn't necessarily the case. Depending on the species, it could also be the case that force is part of the selection process for determining a mate's suitability. Evolution isn't a kind and loving god, alas. (Some species' mating rituals involve the death of one or both partners, for example.)

Comment author: SilasBarta 19 August 2009 07:48:23PM 0 points [-]

I mean "forced", as I think PH did, in the sense of "the being that was forced did not want to do it". The cases of beetles that get their heads bitten off after mating with a female wouldn't be a relevant example, since, in the appropriate sense, the male seems to want that.

But then, if resistance is part of some test, than PH's example wouldn't be relevant anyway.