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"... with limited capacity to adjust our behavior on the basis of reasoned morality." We also have hard-wired general memory and reasoning faculties. "We are
by Daniel_Newby 15y ago
"... with limited capacity to adjust our behavior on the basis of reasoned morality."
We also have hard-wired general memory and reasoning faculties.
"We are not animals."
We are not base animals, to be sure. Neither are we angels of pure logic.
- crux_ 15y agoI'm not sure you understand me. To illustrate with an extreme: If we happened to be hard-wired by evolution to be tremendously predisposed towards genocidal behavior, would that make any acts of genocide we commit morally acceptable behavior?
- yohui 15y agoHalfway through my response to this, I realized that someone had already written it, and in a much more entertaining fashion. So I'll just point you to his post instead: Three Worlds Collide, by Yudkowsky http://lesswrong.com/lw/y5/the_babyeating_aliens_18/ http://lesswrong.com/lw/y5/the_babyeating_aliens_18/ "The most controversial story I’ve ever written. Starts with the baby-eating aliens and moves on from there."