Comment on Rationality Quotes October 2012

Wed, 03 Oct 2012 15:02:32 GMT

The converse of my first sentence is what seems truly concerning to me, the view that people who make mistakes are doing something wrong.

The converse would be something along the lines of "Having correct beliefs is the right thing to do". This converse would be something that I do agree with. Now, it is highly unlikely that all of my beliefs are correct all of the time; in fact, in the past, I have noticed that some of my beliefs were wrong. Having correct beliefs in every respect is highly unlikely; it is an ideal towards which to strive, not an achievable position.

Having incorrect beliefs, on the other hand, is a situation which one should strive to avoid, and is certainly not the right thing to do.

Having said that, though, acting in the way that one believes to be correct is the right thing to do. (If that is what you meant by your first sentence, then you phrased it poorly).

Given that our mistakes and our successes are indistinguishable

They are not indistinguishable. If I run an experiment, I can state beforehand the results which I expect to observe. If my expectations match my observations, I call that 'success' - if they do not, I call that 'failure'. Both my observations and my expectations exist. Whether there is actually an apple, and whether or not the concept of 'falling' or the action of 'dropping' is possible, it remains nonetheless true, at some point in time, that:

I have a memory of planning to drop the apple.

I have a memory of expecting to observe the apple falling after dropping it

I have a memory of dropping the apple

I have a memory of the apple either falling or not falling

Whether these four memories correspond to anything that happened in the past outside of my head is something that a philosopher may debate. However, they form a basis for me to distinguish between success (I have a memory of the observation of the apple falling) and failure (I have a memory of the observation of the apple not falling).

The morality of a person must be judged by their intentions insofar as it's possible to understand those intentions. Blaming someone for a genuine mistake is a morally wrong and illogical thing to do.

I did not mean to imply that anyone should recieve any blame for a genuine, unavoidable mistake. (In certain cases, a person can be legitimately blamed for failing to check a belief; for example, if a person fails to check the belief that his campfire has gone out, then he can be blamed when the campfire burns down the forest (if he does check, and suitably thoroughly, then it's different)).

So yes, the morality of a person should be judged by their intentions. But correct beliefs mean that beneficial intentions will more likely result in beneficial outcomes; therefore, it is important to attempt to acquire correct beliefs.

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