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A comment on Erik Hoel on Effective Altruism, Utilitarianism, and the Repugnant Conclusion. Parent comment

Re:Erik Hoel on Effective Altruism, Utilitarianism, and the ... by circular_lights on Wednesday November 16, 2022 @05:22PM (#33631711)
Absolutely not. Words and rationality are far inferior clumsy tools of communication (and - with respect to the nerds in question - tools of manipulation) to the vastly more multi-dimensional, multi-generational, tried-and-true, human instincts.
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Re:Erik Hoel on Effective Altruism, Utilitarianism, and the ... by naasking on Wednesday November 16, 2022 @06:03PM (#33632220)
> Words and rationality are far inferior clumsy tools of communication (and - with respect to the nerds in question - tools of manipulation) to the vastly more multi-dimensional, multi-generational, tried-and-true, human instincts.

You mean the kind of instincts that justified slavery, that oppresses women, that justifies spousal abuse and racial or ethnic hatred? Yeah sorry, "instincts" have orders of magnitude more failure modes than reason and language.

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