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dhasenan comments on Balancing Costs to Ourselves with Benefits to Others - Less Wrong
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I was having a discussion elsewhere about cryonics. Someone pointed out that it was selfish to subscribe to cryonics because I could instead use that money to provide medical support to third-world countries, pointing to a $50 medical procedure that could save lives.
I spend about $2,000 a year on cryonics for myself. I have a lot more than that in disposable income. I could forgo cryonics to save 40 people per year. I could forgo some amusements to save two or three times that.
I don't.
In order for that argument to dissuade me from cryonics, I would have to be moved by it sufficiently to give up my disposable income first.
I came to the conclusion that I effectively don't care about people in distant countries dying of things that won't impact me.
This realization was a bit disquieting, to say the least.
Unless that someone was spending as much or more on charity or similar extenuating factors, it's worth noting that
applies even moreso to them!
Why? Do you have overpopulation as one of your meta-values? Do you like to think of yourself as a preference rather than hedonic utilitarian? Do you know what your terminal values are?
If you are not feeling genuine satisfaction from donating part of your income, the way JuliaWise does, then there is no point in feeling guilty about not donating. If you do feel guilty, consider digging deeper into your value system to reconcile what you really want and what you think you should want. The metaethics sequence could be of help.
Those aren't my real objection to spending money on the relevant charities. My real objection is spending money that I could otherwise spend on something I like, or save for future use (retiring sooner). It feels like throwing away money, almost. I have a deficient warm fuzzy receptor and low levels of empathy.
That is what I'm asking. Why do you seem to feel guilty about it (and blame it on some deficiency)?
It conflicts with my previous self-image and what I perceive as...not societal norms, I suppose, but what society thinks its norms should be, perhaps.
I am not feeling guilt. I do not feel unhappy or upset about any of this. It's just odd and takes a bit of adjusting.
I have an impression of people around me having more empathy and reacting more to warm fuzzies than I do. That's all I meant by saying I'm deficient in these areas. It was a dispassionate observation.
Ah, OK, makes sense.