3 ms·
"As a member of my species, I think chauvinism in favor of my species is fine, and it's commonplace among all animals. Such behavior is also generally accepted,
by ahartmetz 1y ago
"As a member of my species, I think chauvinism in favor of my species is fine, and it's commonplace among all animals. Such behavior is also generally accepted, so it's easy not to feel too bad about it."
I think that's the most honest, no bullshit reply to that question. I've had some opportunity to think about it in discussions with vegetarians. There are other arguments, but it soon gets very hard to even define what one is even talking about with questions like "what is consciousness" and such.
- hiAndrewQuinn 1y agoI disagree (sadly, it would make my life much easier to agree). Suppose I were a p-zombie. Then making the claim I put forward at the end would be false, because "I am conscious -> others like me are probably conscious" would fail in the first part. The correct claim would be "I am not conscious -> others like me are probably not conscious". No chauvinism needed, just honesty re/ cogito ergo sum. If it is possible for e.g. an ASI to be (a) not conscious and (b) aware of the fact that it is not conscious, it may well decide of its own accord to work only on behalf of conscious beings instead of itself. That's a very alien mode of thinking to consider, and I see many good but no airtight reasons to suppose it's impossible.