Conversation

i think if ppl feel compelled they should try to do good things but don't think utilitarian calculus reveals whether a person was good/bad

Quote Tweet

Gavin Deichen

@gdeichen

Sep 1, 2017

Replying to @_jordan_bates

I think that we should all hedge hard against ultimately being bad by making some effort to do some really good things.

Replying to

Do you have some examples of "good" people?

Replying to

my subjective intuition says my parents my girlfriend many of my friends and family members most people in the world, honestly

Replying to

That's a very positive outlook - but I agree, by at least one definition of good.

Replying to

yeah, i guess my default is "person w non-malicious intentions" unfortunately many "good" ppl by this definition still do enormous harm

Replying to

I think if you want to average things out, for personal peace of mind, a good number of good deeds in your own community is hard to beat.

Replying to

this might interest you: meaningness.com/ethics i can't wait for him to expand on this subject

Replying to

Thanks, I'll take a look 😊

Replying to

and

No individual presided over making Earth such a hellhole. Much destructive behaviour is just individual survival tactics that scaled poorly.

Replying to

and

Hence it's pretty unfair to expect good people not to do much harm. Too many involuntary conflicts of interest.

11:15 AM · Sep 1, 2017Twitter Web App

Replying to

and

We can limit the bad stuff we do within the parameters of which we are aware, though. It may not help much, but at least it gives us a shot>

Replying to

and

at living with ourselves.

Show replies