Ancient beliefs are no better suited to guiding our lives than contemporary reasoning. Some ancient beliefs have "survived the test of time", but that only tells us that the beliefs (or the corresponding tribes) were successful at spreading themselves.
We are all travelers on a small, fragile spaceship called Earth. When we divide humanity into in-groups and out-groups, we lose sight of our common humanity.
We are all cousins: the only question is how many generations back we must trace. Focus on your close relatives only insofar as practical matters bring you together.
Even if you hate someone so much that you've temporarily forgotten that their happiness has intrinsic value, you should still not want to harm them. Whether it's a disease or just a bad day, it's more likely to also harm innocent people than to resolve your conflict.
For actions with small effects on large numbers of people, the best heuristic is to "shut up and multiply", regardless of your take on the corner cases of utilitarianism. (If everyone else does the same, the probability of you getting at least 60 minutes back is very high.)
When your capacity for ethical thought is limited, focus it where it can actually make a difference in the world. You have full control of your own actions, some influence on your friends, and statistical influence on your elected leaders.
A choice to forgo research is itself a morally relevant action, with real-world consequences due to its influence on your choice of direct action. When estimating the likelihood that research would surprise you, beware ideological bubbles.
We do not have the time to make every ethical decision from first principles. But if we never consider how our everyday heuristics align with our basic values, we are likely to cause harm while believing we are doing good.
Biases in perception, probability estimation, and ethical decision-making all threaten our ability to make choices consistent with our values. For example, the availability heuristic combines with omission bias to fuel the anti-vaccination movement.
Elections measure popularity, and to some extent collective values, but can't tell us facts about the world. To evaluate specific policies, governments should rely more on local initiative (federalism), controlled experiments (scientocracy), or prediction markets (futarchy).
Elections measure popularity, and to some extent collective values, but can't tell us facts about the world. To evaluate specific policies, governments should rely more on local initiative (federalism), controlled experiments (scientocracy), or prediction markets (futarchy).
Biases in perception, probability estimation, and ethical decision-making all threaten our ability to make choices consistent with our values. For example, the availability heuristic combines with omission bias to fuel the anti-vaccination movement.
We do not have the time to make every ethical decision from first principles. But if we never consider how our everyday heuristics align with our basic values, we are likely to cause harm while believing we are doing good.
A choice to forgo research is itself a morally relevant action, with real-world consequences due to its influence on your choice of direct action. When estimating the likelihood that research would surprise you, beware ideological bubbles.
When your capacity for ethical thought is limited, focus it where it can actually make a difference in the world. You have full control of your own actions, some influence on your friends, and statistical influence on your elected leaders.
For actions with small effects on large numbers of people, the best heuristic is to "shut up and multiply", regardless of your take on the corner cases of utilitarianism. (If everyone else does the same, the probability of you getting at least 60 minutes back is very high.)
Even if you hate someone so much that you've temporarily forgotten that their happiness has intrinsic value, you should still not want to harm them. Whether it's a disease or just a bad day, it's more likely to also harm innocent people than to resolve your conflict.
We are all cousins: the only question is how many generations back we must trace. Focus on your close relatives only insofar as practical matters bring you together.
We are all travelers on a small, fragile spaceship called Earth. When we divide humanity into in-groups and out-groups, we lose sight of our common humanity.
Ancient beliefs are no better suited to guiding our lives than contemporary reasoning. Some ancient beliefs have "survived the test of time", but that only tells us that the beliefs (or the corresponding tribes) were successful at spreading themselves.
Suffering begets suffering, deprivation of understanding more than anything else produces more suffering. Always offer the truth without regret so that others may act according to a conscience informed by reason.
We needn't be afraid of judging others as we should be judged ourselves. It is important that our judgement and the judgement we receive is not based on race, gender, sexuality, etc but that people who act abhorrently do not get to bypass judgement.
Humans are the most childlike of all species, which is a factor of our intelligence. Those who disparage something for being childish need to remember the value of all things childlike.
Ecclesiastes 9:10. We are only given one opportunity at life, so we should all try to live deep and suck out the marrow of life. As far as we can tell, their isn't another one following this. None of us wishes to find, upon dying, that we had never truly lived.
James 2:26. It is easy to tell others what they should do and it is easy to think about our own beliefs and sculpt them into something beautiful. But if we never put these beliefs into action, then we are of no more use to the world than a man who believes in nothing at all.
Ninety-five percent of all criminal offenders return to live in the general population. Preventing those convicted of crimes from offending again should outweigh other criminal justice priorities.
Empirical evidence guides rational thought. The universe is a wondrous and changing place and there is much we don't know. Only by seeking evidence and being willing to incorporate what we discover will we advance our collective knowledge.
Everyone is shaped by life experiences. We usually think about how this makes us different, rather than how we would be if we lived another's life. We have to consider their entire life story, not just their present condition: much more than just "walking in their shoes."
Sometimes we fear the success of others, because it means less spots on the winners podium for us. But if we all root for each other, then we will all move in a better direction.
The Bible is patriarchal and says almost nothing about being good to your children and respecting their integrity as human beings. Yet it is children that are the most vulnerable to abuse, mental as well as physical.