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Old 09-24-2007, 10:54 AM
foal foal is offline
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Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 1,019
Default Re: David Sklansky is an ACist

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Are you saying that everyone dislikes mugging? Because I'm sure that's not the case. If it was the case mugging would never happen.

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I'm saying that even people who mug would be better off if they didn't. The $20 I have in my pocket isn't worth the potential retaliation. People mug because they mistakenly conclude it is their best play.

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You can't define what is someone else's best play. Mugging doesn't always carry a high risk of retaliation and even if it did, maybe the mugger enjoys the excitement of that knowledge.

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People slit their wrists too. Do you think that is ever +EV?

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If they want to die or want attention/help, it can be. Mainly if they want attention, because it's not a very effective suicide method unless you cut really deep.

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I can't think of anything that humans universally agree is a good preference.

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Because some humans act erroneously. The conscious screws things up sometimes. But take a mugger. How do you think even he would feel if someone steals his television set? I'm guessing he feels ripped off, and different than say, when he lost a big poker hand. The subconscious is tougher to trick.

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Hmmmm (trying to wrap my mind around what your position is). I take it you've given up on the claim that morals are universal, because no one would disagree with them. The people who disagree you say are making a mistake. Your position is that there is a set of principles or morals that are in everyone's best interest even if they don't realize it. But I don't think you can convince me of this. You can't measure everything by some universal scale of expected value, because "value" is different for everyone based on their differing psychologies. How would a mugger feel if his TV was stolen? Pissed off most likely, but mugging doesn't necessarily make him more likely to be stolen from (especially if he mugs the right people, like tourists etc. someone I know was mugged while a tourist in Italy).
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