Down The Rabbit Hole

Again, not comparable, as I am talking about individuals experiencing good that outweighs their bad, and not individuals experiencing good that outwei...

For me good would be positive subjective experience such as happiness, pleasure etc. And the evil would be negative subjective experience such as pain...

Your example is not comparable as the black marble does not have an inverse relationship to the white marbles. A proper example would be, a finite amo...

That your children are likely to have a good life and/or you are going to bring them up to make the world a better place. The only problem I have with...

I don't see any mechanism for that changing the wrongness of his actions. It would obviously change the boss's culpability though.

As you were saying: https://www.thedrum.com/news/2021/08/02/youtube-suspends-sky-news-australia-videos-denying-covid-19-existence

It seems wrong to take advantage of someone (they don't have the awareness to realise they are being taken advantage of). If we tested that with a red...

Yes, you are right. Arguably what Corbyn should have done is remove the whip from those attacking him, as it is a breach of the party's rules to bring...

Considering that which has given rise to everything else has to be infinite in duration, and anything that can happen in an infinite duration probably...

Is Sky News one of the main news stations in Australia? For a while YouTube was recommending clips of it to me, and it was just like Fox News. UK's Sk...

Cycles of Time - Sir Roger Penrose

It shows that a state can be principled. That one guy, if Prime Minister, picks the rest of the government, and institutions of a state. The trouble i...

All of those players are picked either directly or indirectly by the executive and legislature, at least here in the UK. Correct, I was just saying it...

Yes, and if you sue them for breaking their own rules, they can use your money taken under threat of force to outspend you to save face, and/or carry ...

This isn't necessarily true. Looking at Jeremy Corbyn's parliamentary record going back decades he has a history of voting against his own party, even...

As you have alluded to, this is the same for religion, and it will be the same for those running corporations. They all have the freedom to follow the...

I dislike right wing politics, but this is right: The state has the ultimate choice in controlling anything. They can choose to be guided by the corpo...

The negative consequence of one position is neutral (the unborn are in a neutral state), the negative consequence of the other is tens of millions wit...

It seemed like you were saying, in this particular case we shouldn't act on what would probably reduce suffering unless we have a "watertight" case, d...

People feeling guilty and embarrassed is a cost worth paying for stopping tens of millions having lives of unbearable suffering. This tens of millions...

I don't see how the former is any more deliberate than the latter.

I don't see how the incestuous couple using protection against pregnancy would be the cause of a child with a genetic disorder, but a non-incestuous c...

Maybe I am misunderstanding what you are saying, but do you mean those trying for a baby get special treatment as genetic disorders are a consequence ...

It may be a struggle to find the data, but I would assume there to be more genetic disorders from non-related couples actively trying for a baby, comp...

The unborn are in a neutral state (they experience neither good or bad), on the other hand there are millions that would live in unbearable agony. I d...

I operate from the data I am aware of, and I would and have changed my beliefs based upon fresh data (I used to be a pro-natalist). To be honest I was...

I am a consequentialist. Suffering in itself is not a bad thing, and is justified if it leads to less net suffering e.g. getting surgery. I think any ...

Natalism is a belief that promotes the reproduction of human life. This belief has lead to millions of people being born, a small chunk of which will ...

I think the thought experiment implicit in The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas puts this kind of question to the test. My instinct is that not even one...

There is no point to anything unless it can be felt. Life brings meaning to the universe.

I always thought social skills would lead to higher incomes than general intelligence. It is a common thought that those with higher general intellige...

Yes, like the "ought" just came out of thin air.

Wormholes are theoretical. I'm not sure how much gravity they are supposed to have but it's the tunnelling through spacetime that could make time trav...

I didn't say we should comply with other people's (and animal's) moral standards. We should fight for ours. Just that we can't have an objective moral...

I think so, but the only ultimate reason we think reducing suffering takes precedence over democracy is because we feel it should, which is the same r...

So, by people giving up driving to walk, the community will be safer? It would reduce traffic accidents, and the roads would be clear for emergency ve...

Even people of the same culture sometimes have different morals. It is most accurate to say morality is relative to each person. I agree with your def...

The dictionaries effectively define evil as that which is immoral. As morals are made up in our mind, evil would be relative to each person.

Wormholes, possibly.

5% of the British population (plus unemployed not claiming unemployment benefit) are taking reasonable steps to find work. They are not choosing to re...

Officially around 5% of people claim unemployment benefit, and to be eligible you must take reasonable steps to find work. The government are in fact ...

I didn't know Hoffman had discussed his ideas with THE Francis Crick? I'm not surprised he was a critic. I take it Hoffman is a lot more radical than ...

I think the most popular is Donald Hoffman's The case against reality. It's on my 'to read list'.

You'll laugh that you said that when you get out of the experience machine. There is no evidence that supports reality over simulation.

I think therefore I am. Isn't that all we can know?

We already do. It won't be bad for the robots, unless they develop the ability to suffer. Bearing in mind we enslave animals for our taste pleasure, i...

I am concerned that the lack of empathy will lead to more non-emotional suffering. If you get rid of the non-emotional suffering in your hypothetical ...

Here in the UK the official rate of people claiming unemployment benefit is around 5%. The actual rate will be a lot higher as they are fiddling the f...

Well, I appreciate your honesty. Outside of your hypothetical post emotion world, if a referendum were held today, would you vote to stop all payments...

It is our emotions that compel us to help humanity. Why would it be logical for us to help humanity as opposed to just our self in a post emotion worl...