thomblake comments on This Didn't Have To Happen - Less Wrong

22 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 23 April 2009 07:07PM

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Comment author: thomblake 24 April 2009 05:31:53PM 2 points [-]

But we are not really utilitarians. Our mental architecture doesn't allow most of us to really treat every stranger on earth as though they are as valuable as ourselves or our own children.

Shouldn't this be evidence that utilitarianism isn't close to the facts about ethics?

Comment author: Alicorn 24 April 2009 05:37:20PM 3 points [-]

Only if you think we're wired to be ethical.

Comment author: thomblake 24 April 2009 05:41:56PM 0 points [-]

I believe that was part of what knb was saying.

Comment author: SoullessAutomaton 24 April 2009 09:22:49PM 2 points [-]

Shouldn't this be evidence that utilitarianism isn't close to the facts about ethics?

The rest of our brains are wired to give close-enough approximations quickly, not to reliably produce correct answers (cf. cognitive biases). It's not a given that any coherent defition of ethics, even a correct one, should agree with our intuitive responses in all cases.

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