4 ms·

I think additional intelligence only makes moral dilemmas (Should I or should I not do X) harder to cope with. So the drug that makes you smarter also makes you

I think additional intelligence only makes moral dilemmas (Should I or should I not do X) harder to cope with. So the drug that makes you smarter also makes you less sure you should take it.

barrkel 16y ago
But if you're intelligent, you can see the obviousness of getting caught up in moral dilemmas, and you can counter that by adopting a moral system - e.g. utilitarianism, deontological ethics, etc. - and evaluating the action thereunder. But I don't think there's much of a moral dilemma in using drugs that don't usually have permanent or damaging effects. And even when they're damaging or permanent, you need to differentiate between self-harm and harm to others, how well informed the person is, the degree of dependency introduced, the soundness of mind and understanding of consequences, etc. And then you need to look at second-order effects of these moral choices. For example, even though heroin is generally agreed to be a bad thing, particularly with addictive dependency and the need to feed the habit, that doesn't necessarily mean it should e.g. be made illegal to take, as that criminalizes the victims who don't have the same degree of independent control over their actions. Much of drug policy in many democratic countries is driven by short-term political dynamics spurred by parental hysteria, often based on just a handful of well-publicized misadventures. Some kid dies doing something stupid, or is unlucky; people say something must be done; so we send in men with guns and throw people in prison by the thousands, but likely not actually saving many people's lives - very probably a net negative in terms of lives ruined. Very important consequence to keep in mind: when you make something illegal, it means you want to send in men with guns to break into people's homes, split up families and ruin lives. It's a very heavy-handed and blunt tool, and it's ill suited to dealing with consensual crimes.
- rdtsc 16y ago
  > But I don't think there's much of a moral dilemma in using drugs that don't usually have permanent or damaging effects. I think in this particular case there are no long-term (20 years+) studies. It is still unclear how exactly Modafinil works. And no long term studies have been done. This is according to : "Pharmacotherapy for excessive daytime sleepiness" by Banerjee D, Vitiello MV, Grunstein RR. Published in Sleep Med Rev. 2004 Oct;8(5):339-54). (See last sentence in the abstract). PUBMED: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15336235 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15336235
  - barrkel 16y ago
    For sure; but it's not exactly a new drug, and the probability that a long-term problem exists decreases over the lifetime of the drug's active use. But this still doesn't point to a moral problem; it is a lack of information, or conversely, an element of risk. Can the risk be quantified, compared, and put in perspective with the other risks we take in our daily lives?
- nhnifong 16y ago
  There is a tremendous amount of self control required to adopt a moral system, and then cease to question it. A constant curiosity seeps into the crevasses of every dam of moral certainty I erect, eroding the peaks of the fitness landscape and filling the valleys with its silt. I think what I call 'intelligence' is responsible for this. By imagining and evaluating so many potential futures that so single one can stand out as magnificent or horrible among the innumerable uncertain outcomes. When you trace your decisions out deeper into the branches of consequences, you rarely end at a big obvious pot-o-gold, or a very bad disaster that you certainly should avoid. You just end up with a neutral bag of inert leaves.
Eliezer 16y ago
> I think additional intelligence only makes moral dilemmas (Should I or should I not do X) harder to cope with. So the drug that makes you smarter also makes you less sure you should take it. Er... no it doesn't? Once you get far enough to appreciate utilitarian consequentialism and the expected utility theorems a lot of things get a lot easier.

I think additional intelligence only makes moral dilemmas (Should I or should I not do X) harder to cope with. So the drug that makes you smarter also makes you less sure you should take it.

barrkel 16y ago

But if you're intelligent, you can see the obviousness of getting caught up in moral dilemmas, and you can counter that by adopting a moral system - e.g. utilitarianism, deontological ethics, etc. - and evaluating the action thereunder. But I don't think there's much of a moral dilemma in using drugs that don't usually have permanent or damaging effects. And even when they're damaging or permanent, you need to differentiate between self-harm and harm to others, how well informed the person is, the degree of dependency introduced, the soundness of mind and understanding of consequences, etc. And then you need to look at second-order effects of these moral choices. For example, even though heroin is generally agreed to be a bad thing, particularly with addictive dependency and the need to feed the habit, that doesn't necessarily mean it should e.g. be made illegal to take, as that criminalizes the victims who don't have the same degree of independent control over their actions. Much of drug policy in many democratic countries is driven by short-term political dynamics spurred by parental hysteria, often based on just a handful of well-publicized misadventures. Some kid dies doing something stupid, or is unlucky; people say something must be done; so we send in men with guns and throw people in prison by the thousands, but likely not actually saving many people's lives - very probably a net negative in terms of lives ruined. Very important consequence to keep in mind: when you make something illegal, it means you want to send in men with guns to break into people's homes, split up families and ruin lives. It's a very heavy-handed and blunt tool, and it's ill suited to dealing with consensual crimes.

rdtsc 16y ago
> But I don't think there's much of a moral dilemma in using drugs that don't usually have permanent or damaging effects. I think in this particular case there are no long-term (20 years+) studies. It is still unclear how exactly Modafinil works. And no long term studies have been done. This is according to : "Pharmacotherapy for excessive daytime sleepiness" by Banerjee D, Vitiello MV, Grunstein RR. Published in Sleep Med Rev. 2004 Oct;8(5):339-54). (See last sentence in the abstract). PUBMED: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15336235 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15336235
- barrkel 16y ago
  For sure; but it's not exactly a new drug, and the probability that a long-term problem exists decreases over the lifetime of the drug's active use. But this still doesn't point to a moral problem; it is a lack of information, or conversely, an element of risk. Can the risk be quantified, compared, and put in perspective with the other risks we take in our daily lives?
nhnifong 16y ago
There is a tremendous amount of self control required to adopt a moral system, and then cease to question it. A constant curiosity seeps into the crevasses of every dam of moral certainty I erect, eroding the peaks of the fitness landscape and filling the valleys with its silt. I think what I call 'intelligence' is responsible for this. By imagining and evaluating so many potential futures that so single one can stand out as magnificent or horrible among the innumerable uncertain outcomes. When you trace your decisions out deeper into the branches of consequences, you rarely end at a big obvious pot-o-gold, or a very bad disaster that you certainly should avoid. You just end up with a neutral bag of inert leaves.

Eliezer 16y ago

> I think additional intelligence only makes moral dilemmas (Should I or should I not do X) harder to cope with. So the drug that makes you smarter also makes you less sure you should take it. Er... no it doesn't? Once you get far enough to appreciate utilitarian consequentialism and the expected utility theorems a lot of things get a lot easier.