From: Gordon Worley (redbird@rbisland.cx)
Date: Sun Jun 09 2002 - 19:41:11 MDT
On Sunday, June 9, 2002, at 07:54 PM, Lee Corbin wrote:
> The only way that I can parse this last sentence "ability to
> reproduce" is by conflating it with my conjecture above that
> you meant by "getting the girl" a satisfaction of your
> instincts to biologically reproduce.
Yes. I and others on this list are fans of evolutionary psychology
because it explains a lot of why we act in ways that are against our
best interests. Evolution is really good at creating beings that are
good at reproduction, because those that aren't good at it die out.
Thus, humans and other animals are all wired to maximize the chances of
reproduction and the chances that the offspring will go on to reproduce.
> I suspect that you and others here have adequately answered the
> following questions, but I could still use some help: what makes
> some of those goals rational and not others? You clearly identify
> with the long-term institution Gordon Worley, and not with the
> subsystems that you almost never give in to (by your previous claims).
> I'm real murky on how rationality fits into all this.
Rational goals are those that result from some logical thought process.
For example (highly simplified): Eliezer sees the Singularity coming;
Eliezer sees that the Singularity could potentially wipe out everyone
and everything if it goes slightly wrong; ergo, Eliezer dedicates his
life to creating a safe Singularity. Irrational thinking would be if
Eliezer had thought like this: Eliezer sees the Singularity coming;
Eliezer sees that the Singularity could potentially wipe out everyone
and everything if it goes slightly wrong; Eliezer sees an attractive
woman; Eliezer goes off with the woman and lets the Singularity be a
hobby. Even worse, he might have rationalized: Eliezer goes off with
the woman because he thinks that this experience will help him create a
safer Singularity. Without the right set of qualifiers on the woman,
he'll be thinking this because his brain is tricking him into doing what
it wants, i.e. reproducing.
Rational goals don't just come out of no where, they follow logically
from your knowledge. Irrational goals don't follow logically and
probably seem to come up out of nowhere (oh, I think I'd like vanilla
ice cream today!).
-- Gordon Worley `When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty http://www.rbisland.cx/ said, `it means just what I choose redbird@rbisland.cx it to mean--neither more nor less.' PGP: 0xBBD3B003 --Lewis Carroll
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