Meditators seek spirituality via cutting influence of brain's default net. Yet many fear ems losing moral value via losing human features, & cutting default net is plausible path. So are ems w/ less default net spiritual ideals, or empty of moral value? https://www.overcomingbias.com/2018/02/how-human-are-meditators.html …
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I think there may be other conceptions of enlightenment that are different than this, although Buddhists have done a terrible job of explaining them. If they are different than this, I think they may be worthwhile and preserve moral value. See http://slatestarcodex.com/2017/09/18/book-review-mastering-the-core-teachings-of-the-buddha/ … for more
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In general, I think you're probably operating on too coarse a level here. Hearing a beautiful symphony and taking heroin might both "activate the reward center", but maybe not in the exact same way, and maybe doing other things too. Not hypocritical to like one, hate other.
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If it’s all complex & some cuts of default net good & others bad, I don’t see how u can confidently say em cuts will be bad. Only a generic fear that cuts might be bad. But all change MIGHT be bad.
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I think I am much more confident about the moral value of specific human-comprehensible actions than changes to brain networks. When you describe the changes you think ems will have, I judge them more negatively than some vague alteration of default network.
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You said you feared lost moral value from ems "neurologically incapable of having their minds drift off while on the job". As default net manages such mind wandering, that sounds pretty close to reducing default net influence.
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Are you saying there's no relation between mind drifting at work you fear ems losing and mind wandering in meditation that spiritualists dislike, so that your fear of loss of the former is not in conflict with spiritualists' celebration of losing the later?
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Thanks for explaining; didn't understand your objection before. Thoughts turned out too long for Twitter, so seehttps://pastebin.com/NiSbT8g8
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In foreseeable near term, we only be talking about shrinking some parts & using them less, not complete elimination. More like a skilled meditator that one incapable of mind wandering. And most work has much complexity, often even more than in leisure. Longer run v. hard to see.
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Do you think this has ever worked? That is, do you think there are Buddhists who've made themselves non-sentient through meditation, who you'd say now lack moral value? What does this state look like - could an uninformed layman be fooled into thinking they're sentient?
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I am not an expert on this and may be completely misunderstanding. I believe that mahaparanirvana is only attainable after death. I believe there are Buddhists who claim to have eliminated most of what we would call emotions and preferences.
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