What is a conformist zone and why is it spotted?
Remember what I said about "lip service"?
Lip service is "Oh, what is happening in Darfur is so terrible!". That is different from "If I was a better person I'd help the people of Darfur" or "I'm such a bad person, I bought a t.v. instead of giving to charity". The first signals empathy the second and third signal laziness or selfishness (and honesty I guess).
If they want to care about stuff, that's kinda implying that they don't actually care about stuff (yet).
Why do values have to produce first order desires? For that matter, why can't they be socially constructed norms which people are rewarded for buying into? When people do have first order desires that match these values we name those people heroes. Actually sacrificing for moral causes doesn't get you ostracized it gets you canonized.
But what is frightening here is how this choice of values is arbitrary to the ultimate.
Not true. The range of values in the human community is quite limited.
On both cases though, it seems that people really rarely move any bit towards actually caring about something.
People are rarely complete altruists. But that doesn't mean that they don't care about anything. The world is full of broke artists who could pay for more food, drugs and sex with a real job. These people value art.
Lip service is "Oh, what is happening in Darfur is so terrible!". That is different from "If I was a better person I'd help the people of Darfur" or "I'm such a bad person, I bought a t.v. instead of giving to charity". The first signals empathy the second and third signal laziness or selfishness (and honesty I guess).
Both are hollow words anyway. Both imply that you care, when you really don't. There are no real actions.
Why do values have to produce first order desires?
Because, uhm, if you really value something, you'd...
ITT we talk about whatever.