From: Matt Mahoney (matmahoney@yahoo.com)
Date: Mon Mar 03 2008 - 13:34:38 MST
--- Lee Corbin <lcorbin@rawbw.com> wrote:
> Krekoski writes
> > Why is whether something has experience or not even relevant?
>
> Because all moral questions revolve around the answer! And so unless
> you are a complete nihilist, solipsist, or sociopath, all actions whatsoever
> that affect other sentients depend crucially upon the answer.
No it doesn't. Morality evolved (memetically) because it increases overall
fitness of the tribe. Thus, hunting, war, and judicial punishment are
permitted. Furthermore, morality is easily reprogrammed:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_prison_experiment
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment
There is no test to tell whether something has experiences or just expresses
belief in experience. However, evolution favors animals that behave as if they
believe that experience is real (e.g. actively avoiding pain). This might
explain why you find consciousness so mysterious.
-- Matt Mahoney, matmahoney@yahoo.com
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