buybuydandavis comments on Math is Subjunctively Objective - Less Wrong

14 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 25 July 2008 11:06AM

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Comment author: buybuydandavis 18 October 2011 09:10:54PM 0 points [-]

I want to get to the end of the metaethics sequence before pontificating too much, but I'll say a little.

What is yummy? A sense of taste, an evaluation of a particular sensory modality which impels action - eat more.

What is scary? Well, also an evaluation, but not confined to a particular sensory modality. It's an evaluation of threat, a fairly complex evaluation, and it impels action too - fight or flight.

What is moral? The moral sense also evaluates - it evaluates the actions and attitudes of people, and it also impels action - attitudes and reward or punishment, for actions, for attitudes about actions, for properly rewarding/punishing actions, for properly rewarding/punishing attitudes about actions, ...