shaih comments on Rationality Quotes February 2013 - Less Wrong

2 Post author: arundelo 05 February 2013 10:20PM

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Comment author: shaih 17 February 2013 10:50:48PM -1 points [-]

i'm going to reply to the quote as if it means "Truth doesn't have a moral valence" and rebuttal that truth should be held more sacred then morals rather then simply outside of it. For example if there are two cases and case 1 leads to a morally "better" (in quotes because the word better is really a black box) outcome then case 2 but case 1 leads to hiding the truth (including hiding from it yourself) then I would have to think very specifically about it. In short I abide by the rule "That which can be destroyed by the Truth should be" but am weary that this breaks down practically in many situations. So when presented with a scenario where i would be tempted to break this principle for the "greater good" or the "morally better case" I would think long and hard about whether it is a rationalization or that i did not expend the mental effort to come up with a better third alternative.