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There's a simpler test here. If you weren't sure what color your skin would be, what income bracket you'd be born into, what level of health you'd have at birt

There's a simpler test here. If you weren't sure what color your skin would be, what income bracket you'd be born into, what level of health you'd have at birth, or even what country you'd be born in, would you rather be born in 2018 or 1950?

deleted 9y ago
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candiodari 9y ago
I don't think it's that simple. When I was 15 without a doubt I would have said today. And now at 30 I'm pretty convinced that I would have liked 1950 better. Why ? Because the space and that I know that for 30+ years my life would consistently improve, maybe even 50+ or 60+, including an actual pension etc, even if I was born black. The basic standard would be different, but the constant improvement wouldn't. I mean I'd miss my PS4 and iPad, except of course I wouldn't, not really. Maybe I'll change my mind again.
- Consultant32452 9y ago
  71% of the world's population lives on less than $10/day. You won't be getting a pension if you happen to be born black in South Africa in 1950. The world is still experiencing constant improvement. Every day across the world some 130k people achieve basic food security for the first time in their lives. The UN estimates extreme poverty will be gone across the globe by 2030. Not to mention improvements in healthcare, human rights, etc.
nugget 9y ago
What about the idea that pride is the most important value to certain people and pride sometimes comes from your wealth, achievements, and performance relative to the rest of society? The paradox would then be that as society becomes wealthier, the gap between the wealthiest people and average people widens in absolute terms, broadly increasing negative emotions. Maybe immersive VR solves this by allowing the mass of people to transition from "lives of quiet desperation" to being rulers of their own miniature virtual worlds.
- Consultant32452 9y ago
  I think you're too blinded by the US, which is not even close to the majority of the world in terms of population or land mass. Would you rather be a Chinese woman born in China in 1950 or a Chinese woman born in China today? What are the odds you'd have been a victim of infanticide then vs now? How about your potential for education, food security, holding a decent job, likelihood of being victim of violent crime, etc? Do you think that the potential for jealousy overrules all of that?
eindiran 9y ago
This test has been around for a while, more recently under the name "veil of ignorance" -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veil_of_ignorance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veil_of_ignorance

deleted 9y ago

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candiodari 9y ago

I don't think it's that simple. When I was 15 without a doubt I would have said today. And now at 30 I'm pretty convinced that I would have liked 1950 better. Why ? Because the space and that I know that for 30+ years my life would consistently improve, maybe even 50+ or 60+, including an actual pension etc, even if I was born black. The basic standard would be different, but the constant improvement wouldn't. I mean I'd miss my PS4 and iPad, except of course I wouldn't, not really. Maybe I'll change my mind again.

Consultant32452 9y ago
71% of the world's population lives on less than $10/day. You won't be getting a pension if you happen to be born black in South Africa in 1950. The world is still experiencing constant improvement. Every day across the world some 130k people achieve basic food security for the first time in their lives. The UN estimates extreme poverty will be gone across the globe by 2030. Not to mention improvements in healthcare, human rights, etc.

nugget 9y ago

What about the idea that pride is the most important value to certain people and pride sometimes comes from your wealth, achievements, and performance relative to the rest of society? The paradox would then be that as society becomes wealthier, the gap between the wealthiest people and average people widens in absolute terms, broadly increasing negative emotions. Maybe immersive VR solves this by allowing the mass of people to transition from "lives of quiet desperation" to being rulers of their own miniature virtual worlds.

Consultant32452 9y ago
I think you're too blinded by the US, which is not even close to the majority of the world in terms of population or land mass. Would you rather be a Chinese woman born in China in 1950 or a Chinese woman born in China today? What are the odds you'd have been a victim of infanticide then vs now? How about your potential for education, food security, holding a decent job, likelihood of being victim of violent crime, etc? Do you think that the potential for jealousy overrules all of that?

eindiran 9y ago

This test has been around for a while, more recently under the name "veil of ignorance" -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veil_of_ignorance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veil_of_ignorance