Your "first question" is excellent. Your question for me is even better.
What I'm trying to eventually prove is called a hypothesis. If I can disprove it, that is equally valuable to me.
Hypothesis first. Experimental design second. Then data and conclusions.
BTW, I regard "How do you go about trying to fulfill the community's metagoal?" and "What does it mean to be a member of this community?" most simply as better phrasings of what I meant by question 5 (though the answers would probably answer 4).
I would also give 1, 2, and 3 higher priority since they are likely to be shorter answers and the answers may well permit me to join while I perform further investigation. Your questions can take a lifetime to answer and are probably answered differently by each member of the community.
Your questions can take a lifetime to answer
Here's an even clearer phrasing that refutes that. "What is day-to-day life like for a member of this community? How does it differ from what I'm accustomed to?" Really, I'm just trying to resolve the ambiguity that Vladimir_Nesov observed. Merely knowing that a group is rational and utilitarian (or at least, that it claims to be) doesn't narrow down what it is very much.
Also, I would find the statement of hypothesis in the original post much clearer if you said "my hypothesis is that ..." ...
Premise: There exists a community whose top-most goal is to maximally and fairly fulfill the goals of all of its members. They are approximately as rational as the 50th percentile of this community. They politely invite you to join. You are in no imminent danger.
Do you:
Premise: The only rational answer given the current information is the last one.
What I’m attempting to eventually proveThe hypothesis that I'm investigating iswhether"Option 2 is the only long-term rational answer". (Yes, this directly challenges several major current premises so my arguments are going to have to be totally clear. I am fully aware of the rather extensive Metaethics sequence and the vast majority of what it links to and will not intentionally assume any contradictory premises without clear statement and argument.)It might be an interesting and useful exercise for the reader to stop and specify what information they would be looking next for before continuing. It would be nice if an ordered list could be developed in the comments.
Obvious Questions:
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