On March 17 2017 09:00 Loco wrote:
An introduction to effective altruism by Peter Singer
Still using the same analogies since the 70's. Not much for utilitarianism myself, and donating money will always be supererogatory imo. If your interested in moral philosophy give this a look
1) saying someone has been using an analogy for a long time doesn't constitute an argument against it
2) donating excess money for a good cause is literally the opposite of supererogatory
3) i'm a negative threshold utilitarian (/w antifrustationist leaning), so watching some introductory video to the trolley problem is basically the biggest waste of my time (but I do appreciate you contributing something, there is an awfully low amount of content related to ethics around here)
fuck I should just sell some of my Pokemon cards, if no one stakes that is what I will have to do - lostaccount
On March 18 2017 09:52 Loco wrote:
1) saying someone has been using an analogy for a long time doesn't constitute an argument against it
2) donating excess money for a good cause is literally the opposite of supererogatory
3) I'm a negative preference utilitarian, so watching some introductory video to the trolley problem is basically the biggest waste of my time
3) How do you know that me eating cheeseburgers and wasting money on booze doesn't out way the unity from donating? That shit makes me really happy.....
Meh, looks like this is not going to be a productive discussion. Again you've done nothing to refute Singer and you haven't even engaged with his thought experiment. So you'd let the child drown if it meant giving up your cheeseburger or what? You're going out of your way choosing one definition of the word 'supererogatory' rather than trying to understand how I'm using it which is more in line with the second dictionary definition: "greater than that required or needed; superfluous". I was clearly saying that living a modest life and donating all the extra money you earn to the most effective causes like Singer and MacAskill do is the opposite of superfluous and it's obviously not "greater than required or needed" ; there are always people in need, whereas their own needs are already met.
I'm not saying you have a duty, but if you're a very comfortable/successful adult who understands that they have been very lucky to be born where they are and with what they have, you often feel like you have a duty. But I understand that many people don't feel that way because they lead an infantilized existence chasing the next big thrill through consumerism and whatever other nonsense they believe will make them happy (and which we know from quite a lot of solid research that it won't). Well, either that or they numb themselves with booze and chew on an early grave to distract themselves from how meaningless their lives are. I guess that partly answers your last question too.
The other part is simply this: I don't care what gets your dick hard. Your moment-to-moment happiness is not the topic at hand. It's hilarious that you're trying to build a case for the validity of your happiness while only naming (self-)destructive things though. Surely you can build a better case for selfishness than that. But if you want to be the most selfish person you can be, just be that person. I don't see why you bother trying to rationalize why you're doing it if that's what you've set out to do with your life. Just leave ethics and altruism to those who care about it instead of making pointless remarks like how an incredibly influential philosopher is just "doing the same stuff" (aka being consistent and successful).
Anyway, for those few who do like to think about their impact in the world and who have decided not to sleepwalk through life being the average consumer, here's a couple more links on EA you might want to check out. One is a very recent Joe Rogan podcast episode.
Edit: I'm 1h30 into the Joe Rogan episode and I'm remembered why I almost never watch his podcast... talked of aliens and consciousness far more than anything else. Barely touched on EA. So I went and found a talk with Sam Harris I haven't listened to yet but which is probably a lot better.
fuck I should just sell some of my Pokemon cards, if no one stakes that is what I will have to do - lostaccount
