lmm comments on What makes us think _any_ of our terminal values aren't based on a misunderstanding of reality? - Less Wrong

17 Post author: bokov 25 September 2013 11:09PM

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Comment author: lmm 27 September 2013 06:27:26PM 0 points [-]

My position would be that actions speak louder than thoughts. If you act as though you value your own happiness more than that of others... maybe you really do value your own happiness more than that of others? If you like doing certain things, maybe you value those things - I don't see anything irrational in that.

(It's perfectly normal to self-deceive to believe our values are more selfless than they actually are. I wouldn't feel guilty about it - similarly, if your actions are good it doesn't really matter whether you're doing them for the sake of other people or for your own satisfaction)

The other resolution I can see would be to accept that you really are a set of not-entirely-aligned entities, a pattern running on untrusted hardware. At which point parts of you can try and change other parts of you. That seems rather perilous though. FWIW I accept the meat and its sometimes-contradictory desires as part of me; it feels meaningless to draw lines inside my own brain.

Comment author: byrnema 27 September 2013 08:49:20PM 0 points [-]

The other resolution I can see would be to accept that you really are a set of not-entirely-aligned entities, a pattern running on untrusted hardware.

Yes, this is where I'm at.