Open Thread, November 15-22, 2013

drethelin

If it's worth saying, but not worth its own post (even in Discussion), then it goes here.

What's wrong with selfish desires?

I would say that for practical purposes, we could distinguish "selfish" desires from simple "desires," as being ones which place an inappropriate degree of burden on other people. After all, in general usage, we tend to use selfish to mean "privileging oneself over others to an inappropriate degree," not "concerned with oneself at all."

In that context, "I need you to definitely stay dead forever so I can stop worrying about it," seems like a good example of a selfish desire, and rather more like something one would apply to a comic book archenemy than a loved one.

2DaFranker13y

After several attempts at providing a direct answer to this, I find that I am currently unable to. The term "wrong" here confuses me more than anything. What's the point of the question? My comment is about how the need for closure is suboptimal for both the individual and the society, and how reality doesn't necessarily fit with a human's inner narrative expectations on this subject. If you're asking about why generic society would scorn and negatively perceive the notion of it being selfish, it's because it's socially accepted and socially expected in most cultures that individuals must not be selfish. The details of that probably belong in a different discussion.

0hyporational13y

I suspect selfish desire here refers to the fact that if people just move on, they're less likely to care about longevity research, cryonics and A.I. Do you find that acceptable?