You're looking at Less Wrong's discussion board. This includes all posts, including those that haven't been promoted to the front page yet. For more information, see About Less Wrong.

Ishaan comments on Open Thread, October 7 - October 12, 2013 - Less Wrong Discussion

5 Post author: Thomas 07 October 2013 02:52PM

You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.

Article Navigation

Comments (312)
Tags: open open_thread

Comments (312)

You are viewing a single comment's thread. Show more comments above.

Comment author: MrMind 11 October 2013 08:36:04AM 0 points [-]

acts that we are neither naturally inclined to do nor explicitly taught to do tend not to be common enough to be worth the effort to pass laws against.

So would you say that murder is either: 1) a natural inclination of human being; 2) explicitly taught; 3) not regulated by the law.

3 is clearly not the case, so I'm curious to know what would you pick between 1 and 2.

Comment author: Ishaan 11 October 2013 07:20:40PM *  2 points [-]

This will inevitability turn into a nature/nurture discussion about what is and is not natural. Let's dissolve it.

Most humans instinctively understand how to inflict harm, possess emotions that can trigger violence under certain conditions, and also have an innate desire to prevent harm from occurring.

Cultural mechanisms can prevent the conditions of murder. Cultural mechanisms can also override the instinct of harm avoidance so that murder can be more easily committed.

Powered by Reddit Powered by Reddit