Comment on Open thread, 11-17 August 2014

Mon, 11 Aug 2014 20:36:45 GMT

Tangent thread: What sophisticated idea are you holding on to that you are sure has been formalized somewhere but haven't been able to find?

I'll go first: When called to explain and defend my ethics I explained I believe in "Karma, NO not the that BS mysticism Karma, but plain old actions have consequences in our very connected world kind of Karma." If you treat people in a manner of honesty and integrity in all things, you will create a community of cooperation. The world is strongly interconnected and strongly adaptable so the benefits will continue outside your normal community, or if you frequently change communities. The lynchpin assumption of these beliefs is that if I create One Unit of Happiness for others, it will self propagate, grow and reflect, returning me more that One Unit of Happiness over the course of my lifetime. The same applies for One Unit of Misery.

I've only briefly studied ethics and philosophy, can someone better read point my to the above in formal context.

Discuss