3 ms·

But what if there is a group whose strategy is to take advantage of the trusting nature of everyone else for its own gains? In that case it would be advantageou

But what if there is a group whose strategy is to take advantage of the trusting nature of everyone else for its own gains? In that case it would be advantageous to unite against them. Universal cooperation and trust is great when there are no attackers but it needs to be hardened against attacks somehow. Also, does universal collaboration necessarily bring the best results? Seems like there might be a number of people over which universal coordination becomes infeasible.

komali2 9y ago
If you mean a culture war scenario, this was discussed briefly in the article - do you focus on the success of your Us, or on the relative success of your Us as compared to your Them? I prefer the former, because it is a pure "improvement" mindset, whereas the latter allows for "success" via subjugation of other people while your Us stagnants.
- anigbrowl 9y ago
  That's a good strategy in the aggregate but complete defenselessness is no more sustainable than complete hostility
  - komali2 9y ago
    Defense against value invasion doesn't require offense against other values, does it?
    - anigbrowl 9y ago
      Well, it depends on the content of those values. I'm opposed to eliminationist ideologies for example.
      - komali2 9y ago
        What is an eliminationist ideology, and does it require an offensive to avoid it influencing your cultural values?
undersuit 9y ago
>Ingroup favoritism raises a key question—at our core, do we want Us to do “well” by maximizing absolute levels of well being, or merely “better than,” by maximizing the gap between Us and Them? Universal individualism and distrust is great when there are no attackers but it needs to be hardened against cooperative attacks somehow. Also, does universal individualism necessarily bring the best results? Seems like there might be a number of people over which universal individualism becomes infeasible.

komali2 9y ago

If you mean a culture war scenario, this was discussed briefly in the article - do you focus on the success of your Us, or on the relative success of your Us as compared to your Them? I prefer the former, because it is a pure "improvement" mindset, whereas the latter allows for "success" via subjugation of other people while your Us stagnants.

anigbrowl 9y ago
That's a good strategy in the aggregate but complete defenselessness is no more sustainable than complete hostility
- komali2 9y ago
  Defense against value invasion doesn't require offense against other values, does it?
  - anigbrowl 9y ago
    Well, it depends on the content of those values. I'm opposed to eliminationist ideologies for example.
    - komali2 9y ago
      What is an eliminationist ideology, and does it require an offensive to avoid it influencing your cultural values?

undersuit 9y ago

>Ingroup favoritism raises a key question—at our core, do we want Us to do “well” by maximizing absolute levels of well being, or merely “better than,” by maximizing the gap between Us and Them? Universal individualism and distrust is great when there are no attackers but it needs to be hardened against cooperative attacks somehow. Also, does universal individualism necessarily bring the best results? Seems like there might be a number of people over which universal individualism becomes infeasible.