Douglas_Knight comments on My Way - Less Wrong

31 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 17 April 2009 01:25AM

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Comment author: PhilGoetz 17 April 2009 01:47:38AM 7 points [-]

So this about my gender politics: Unlike the case with, say, race, I don't think that an optimal outcome consists of gender distinctions being obliterated. If the day comes when no one notices or cares whether someone is black or white, any more than they notice eye color, I would only applaud. But obliterating the difference between male and female does not seem to me desirable, and I am glad that it is impossible using present-day technology; the fact that humanity has (at least) two sexes is part of what keeps life interesting.

Why the difference? Doesn't the existence of different races keep life interesting?

Comment author: Douglas_Knight 17 April 2009 04:15:11AM 4 points [-]

We're evolved for mixed-sex societies, not mixed-race societies. We find sex differences much more salient than racial differences. I'm not sure whether that addresses the "optimal outcome," but it does explain why the situations are different.