= 27d567bc2d48d9f40e9ccc20ea370b15)
DanielLC comments on Open Thread for February 11 - 17 - Less Wrong Discussion
You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.
= 783df68a0f980790206b9ea87794c5b6)
Loading…= b715d02e85f7b3b4ae65ca3d3e450868)
Subscribe to RSS Feed
Powered by Reddit
= f037147d6e6c911a85753b9abdedda8d)
You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.
Comments (325)
How does solipsism change one's pattern of behavior, compared to other things being alive? I noticed that when you take enlightened self-interest into account, it seems that many behaviors don't change regardless of whether the people around you are sentient or not.
For example, if you steal from your neighbor, you can observe that you run the risk of him catching you, and thus you having to deal with consequences that will be painful or unpleasant. Similarly, assuming you're a healthy person, you have a conscience that makes you feel bad about certain things, even when you get away with them.
Do you think your conscience would cease to bother you if you could know for a fact that there were no other living creatures feeling pain around you? In what other cases does a true solipsistic world make your behavior distinct from a non-solipsistic one?
If I didn't care about other people, I wouldn't worry about donating to charities that actually help people. I'd donate a little to charities that make me look good, and if I'm feeling guilty and distracting myself doesn't seem to be cost-effective, I'd donate to charities that make me feel good. I would still keep quite a bit of my money for myself, or at least work less.
As it is, I've figured that other people matter, and some of them are a lot cheaper to make happy than me, so I decided that I'm going to donate pretty much everything I can to the best charity I can find.