IN> Re: Selflessness Paradox

[Claribel]

From: <dande002 at fish.co.uk>

> So Malphas would say that David has managed to indoctrinate his angels
> into thinking that self-sacrifice is in their interests, or has 
> conditioned
> them to feel happy when they are acting against their real interests, or
> whatever.

For angels, this is somewhat built-in. So, God, not Malphas, was the 
original programmer. Conditioning and self-conditioning seem to be more a 
human than a celestial matter, however. The human mind has fewer built-ins 
and more user-programmable sectors. Some celestials have specific abilities 
in this regard (e.g. Balseraphs) but this is automatic for them, rather than 
a deliberate technique.

>
> Ethical egotism has to deny that some courses of action are in your 
> interests:
> it can't say that if you want to spend your life relieving poverty in 
> South
> America out of compassionate motives then it is in your interests to do 
> so.
> Otherwise, all it is saying is that you should do whatever you were going 
> to do
> anyway, which is meaningless.

That depends on why you "want" it. Do you want it because you gain some 
personal pleasure or sense of value from it? Or do you want it only because 
you feel that you "should" or "must"? The two types of motivation are 
equally subjective, but different. The first would be described in 
behaviorist terms as positive reinforcement, the second as negative 
reinforcement. "Shoulding" or "musting" is generally not a pleasant 
experience; few people feel rewarded at the thought of an obligation 
(although, human psychology being as mixed and mushy as it is, the two are 
often combined.) Ethical egoism offers a critique of society's use of 
negative reinforcement to constrain individual behavior.

An ethical egoist could have valid reasons for engaging such volunteer work. 
She may enjoy the culture, have personal connections to it, enjoy the 
pleasure of creating a positive change in the world, etc. She would have to 
balance these, however, against whatever potential risk, danger or cost was 
involved. Of course, some humans enjoy risk and challenge for its own sake, 
so one person's costs may be another's assets.

- Claribel