"Narrative Self-Deception: The Ultimate Elephant in the Brain?"
An attempt to critique and build upon @robinhanson and @KevinSimler's The Elephant in the Brain. Trying to expose a great optimism elephant that conveniently ignores bad things.https://magnusvinding.com/2018/09/27/narrative-self-deception-the-ultimate-elephant-in-the-brain/ …
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More importantly, though, I think you're entirely correct to flag it as an area where the forces of self-deception are especially strong. "Life is bad" is one of the least popular opinions a person can hold! So we should all be very wary of our judgment here.
fwiw, I've engaged a little with these ideas, mostly by reading Sarah Perry's book "Every Cradle is a Grave." I still happen to think human life/consciousness is subjectively good, broadly and on net, but that book made me a lot less certain about it.
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"Net good" can be a little deceptive here and is worth scrutinizing, I think. One can think most human lives are "net positive" yet not think these justify the worst of suffering experienced by a few. The Omelas scenario gives many pause, and yet no extreme suffering is involved.
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Anyway, thanks for the very astute and worthwhile riff on our thesis. And please let me know if you write anything else along these lines.
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You're most welcome, and thanks for reading and responding. :-) I have written two long essays that argue for suffering-focused ethics, one general and one specific: https://magnusvinding.com/2018/09/03/suffering-focused-ethics/ … https://magnusvinding.com/2018/09/03/the-principle-of-sympathy-for-intense-suffering/ … More here: https://suffering-focused-ethics.surge.sh/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyA_eF7W02s …
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Is this close to The Conspiracy Against the Human Race, T Ligotti?
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Have you read my critical reviews?
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