Lumifer comments on 2013 Survey Results - Less Wrong

74 Post author: Yvain 19 January 2014 02:51AM

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Comment author: Lumifer 29 January 2014 06:00:02PM 0 points [-]

And what difference does that make?

Comment author: blacktrance 29 January 2014 06:06:26PM -1 points [-]

Presumably, Bob doesn't have a way of making me care about what he wants (beyond the extent to which I care about what a generic stranger wants). If he were to pay me, that would be different, but he can't make me care simply because that's his preference. When he says "We should paint the buildings blue" he's saying "I want the buildings painted blue" and "You want the buildings painted blue", but if I don't want the buildings painted blue, he's wrong.

Comment author: Lumifer 29 January 2014 06:13:32PM *  0 points [-]

Presumably, Bob doesn't have a way of making me care about what he wants

Why not? Much of interactions in a human society are precisely ways of making others care what someone wants.

In any case, the original issue was whether Bob's preference for blue could be described as "correct" or "wrong". How exactly does Bob manage to get what he wants is neither here nor there.

he's saying ... "You want the buildings painted blue"

No, he is not saying that.

Comment author: blacktrance 29 January 2014 06:21:13PM -1 points [-]

The original statement was "I like the color blue! We should paint all the buildings in town blue!" His preference for blue can neither be right nor wrong, but the second sentence is something that can be 'correct" or "wrong".

Comment author: Lumifer 29 January 2014 06:36:34PM *  1 point [-]

but the second sentence is something that can be 'correct" or "wrong".

Without specifying a particular value system, no, it can not.

Full circle back to the original.

Comment author: blacktrance 29 January 2014 06:47:17PM -1 points [-]

There already is an existing value system - what Bob and I already value.