And somehow people never realize the paradox of where does the "wanting to do what seemingly no one wants to" come from. I mean, if no one really cared about X, then no one would be concerned that no one cares about X, right? If nobody cares about sorting pebbles, then nobody feels that we should create some mechanisms to force people to sort pebbles because otherwise, oh the horrors, the pebbles wouldn't be sorted properly.

Well, no. For example, I care very much about these pebbles right here (these represent my friends), and recognize that there are many other people who don't care about these pebbles and instead care about totally different pebbles I don't care either way about. And some other people I know care about some of my pebbles, but not the rest, and I care about some of theirs but not the rest.

It occurs to me that if there were a broad set of principles everyone agreed to which said that, ethically, all pebbles ought to be sorted, then everyone would care some about my pebbles, at the comparatively low cost for me of caring a little about other people's pebbles.

Of course, from there it's a short step to people who conclude that, ethically, it is best to disregard your own particular attachment to your personal pebbles and be an effective pebblist, taking whatever actions most effectively sort pebbles anywhere even if that means your own pebbles are less sorted than they could be if you devoted more time to them. And some people take that too far and provoke Rayn And Pebblist to promote focusing on your own pebbles to the exclusion of all else.