@KevinSimler he cracks me up - he literally can't conceive of people not being glad to be alive, like William James' description of Whitman
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Replying to @sarahdoingthing
@sarahdoingthing but on average ppl are glad to be alive, no?1 reply 0 retweets 1 like -
Replying to @KevinSimler
@KevinSimler how would you measure that? suicide is very hard, much harder than people think, and a million americans a year still try it4 replies 0 retweets 1 like -
Replying to @sarahdoingthing
@sarahdoingthing I... had never thought about that. Always assumed exit would be easy if life became unworthy enough. Emphasis on "assumed."1 reply 0 retweets 3 likes -
Replying to @KevinSimler
@KevinSimler totally! I wrote about the function of this belief here http://theviewfromhell.blogspot.com/2012/04/why-we-believe-suicide-is-easy.html …3 replies 0 retweets 3 likes -
Replying to @sarahdoingthing
@sarahdoingthing still I think that on average people are happy to have been born. do you have arguments to the contrary?2 replies 0 retweets 1 like -
Replying to @KevinSimler
@KevinSimler there's a distinction between "preferentist" and "non-preferentist" accounts - preferentism is the idea that "glad to be alive"1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes -
Replying to @sarahdoingthing
@KevinSimler is what determines the actual quality of life. non-preferentism is the idea that it isn't conclusive (e.g. poss. to be deluded)1 reply 0 retweets 1 like -
Replying to @sarahdoingthing
@sarahdoingthing e.g. self says/believes "glad to be alive," more bc it's a socially useful thing to *say* than bc it's true?1 reply 0 retweets 1 like
@KevinSimler that's part of it - but imagine building an AI that will subjectively be "glad to be alive" despite any suffering or indignity
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