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ChristianKl comments on Stupid Questions, 2nd half of December - Less Wrong Discussion
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Evolution doesn't produce terminal goals.
What is the motivation behind maximizing QUALY? Does it require certain incentives to be present in the culture (endorsement of altruism) or is it rooted elsewhere?
Many people think that society is supposed to have a goal for some reason. And QUALY is easy to measure.
Are you asking whether every human being that is alive has a motivation to maximize QUALY?
More why doing it is desirable at all. Is it a matter of the culture that currently exists? I mean, is it 'right' to eradicate a certain ethnic group if the majority endorses it?
Why do you think biology basis has something to do with the answer?
Because then it would argue from features that are built into us. If we can prove the existence of these features with high certainty, then it could perhaps serve as guidance for our decisions.
On the other hand, it is reasonable that evolution does not create such goals because it is an undirected process. Our actions are unrestricted in this regard, and we must only bear the consequences of the system that our species has come up with. What is good is thus decided by consensus. Still, the values we have converged to are shaped by the way we have evolved to behave (e.g. empathy and pain avoidance).
Our culture is just as backed into us as our DNA. It's all memes.
What are the implications of that on how we decide what is are the right things to do?
Moral philosophy is a huge topic and it's discourse is not dominated by looking at DNA.