Gregg R Thomas

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
each state must ensure its own survival.

They also need to work together to ensure their own and each other’s survival.

We can argue about how Putin’s perception of this ‘threat’ being irrational or morally wrong but from Moscow’s standpoint, ignoring such a development would be irrational.

What is irrational about P…[Read more]

In a recent book, ‘How States Think’, Mearsheimer says that in an ‘anarchic international system’ (one with no world government – i.e. the real world), each state must ensure its own survival. Great powers seek to maintain or expand their security buffer zones to prevent potential threats from getting too close. Russia’s view of NATO expansion,…[Read more]

@jakelafort – it doesn’t take a lot to destroy the feeling of “I feel your pain”.  All it takes is if we don’t approve of someone, so for some reason, they are not “deserving” of our empathic concern.  A set of people we don’t approve of is hated out-group members.

Strega wrote:
But that’s not what stops us from randomly killing annoying people. We don’t think “I want to throttle you but I’d better not because it’s wrong”.

Well, this is true I agree.  There’s no such thing as moral obligation, having to do things because it’s the morally right thing to do.  We follow moral principles because we don’t like…[Read more]

I wonder if the Saudi’s in partnership with Jared would be interested in this ‘piece of prime real estate’.

That last one?  Made me laugh out loud.

Potential Darwin Award winner?

I ridicule my efforts to get a fly out of the kitchen alive. 

I opened the back door fully, you stoopid fly…and the front window too!  Can you not see the gaps with the most light? The one you just entered through? The stray cats stare at me. Earn your keep you lazy band of…..ah, ok he’s gone. Buzz……Arrgh! your brother stayed behind!! T…[Read more]

@simonpaynton

“Murder is wrong”.  You are presenting this as a choice. We choose not to murder because it’s wrong.

But that’s not what stops us from randomly killing annoying people.  We don’t think “I want to throttle you but I’d better not because it’s wrong”.

I mock myself for my revulsion of killing. I ridicule my efforts to get a fl…[Read more]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
Many hope that AI will discover ethical truths.

In principle, we can make a complete description of the way morality works.  But this still would give a multiplicity of correct answers, according to multiple moral principles or domains; it couldn’t resolve dilemmas such as the abortion issue.

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
Many hope that AI will discover ethical truths. But as Gödel shows, deciding what is right will always be our burden.

I think it’s impossible to get “moral truths” (such as “murder is wrong”) with the same truth-status as “2 + 2 = 4”.  I think this is because the two kinds of “truth” are about different things – m…[Read more]

Some more info on witchcraft in India as mentioned in last weeks’ post.

Thanks Reg!