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  4. Is there a universal moral standard?
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Is there a universal moral standard?

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Offline alancalverd

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Re: Is there a universal moral standard?
« Reply #1520 on: 27/05/2021 23:55:08 »
Quote from: hamdani yusuf on 27/05/2021 10:19:56
How do you proof that there is no possibility of universal terminal goal?
Because plants and animals are inherently on opposite sides, and life requires both.
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Offline hamdani yusuf (OP)

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Re: Is there a universal moral standard?
« Reply #1521 on: 28/05/2021 00:11:06 »
Quote from: alancalverd on 27/05/2021 23:55:08
Quote from: hamdani yusuf on 27/05/2021 10:19:56
How do you proof that there is no possibility of universal terminal goal?
Because plants and animals are inherently on opposite sides, and life requires both.
Do you think that all animals are in the same side?
Do you think that bees and flowering plants are on opposite sides?
What should plants do if they want to survive the event when the earth merge with the sun?
« Last Edit: 28/05/2021 01:21:37 by hamdani yusuf »
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Offline hamdani yusuf (OP)

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Re: Is there a universal moral standard?
« Reply #1522 on: 30/05/2021 00:25:19 »
Quote from: hamdani yusuf on 28/05/2021 00:11:06
Do you think that all animals are in the same side?
Do you think that bees and flowering plants are on opposite sides?
What should plants do if they want to survive the event when the earth merge with the sun?
The first two questions are easier to answer. They only need one word.  My answers are no and no. I hope this can help you answer them as well. Let us know if you have different opinions, and why so.
For the third question, I can think of two options. First, the plants can evolve into higher level conscious beings, who are capable of building space ships, and terraforming other planets, or building artificial environments in space. The second option is to cooperate with other conscious beings who are more likely to achieve that first option.
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Re: Is there a universal moral standard?
« Reply #1523 on: 30/05/2021 15:52:04 »
Some animals eat plants, some animals eat animals. A few plants eat animals.

No amount of hypothetical evolution can escape the fact that most plants absorb CO2 and exhale oxygen, and all animals do the opposite. Without some dynamic balance between the two, all living things would die. Therefore the fundamental enmity between plants and animals is essential for the survival of both..
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Offline hamdani yusuf (OP)

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Re: Is there a universal moral standard?
« Reply #1524 on: 30/05/2021 23:39:12 »
Quote from: alancalverd on 30/05/2021 15:52:04
Some animals eat plants, some animals eat animals. A few plants eat animals.
 
Some plants eat other plants, although the process are typically longer than animals. They are called parasites.
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No amount of hypothetical evolution can escape the fact that most plants absorb CO2 and exhale oxygen, and all animals do the opposite. Without some dynamic balance between the two, all living things would die. Therefore the fundamental enmity between plants and animals is essential for the survival of both..
Nothing is fundamental about enmity. They are all instrumental and temporary. They can be stopped with some changes to their behaviors.
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Offline alancalverd

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Re: Is there a universal moral standard?
« Reply #1525 on: 31/05/2021 00:32:14 »
I rather feel that if you stopped a cow eating grass, it wouldn't be a cow. It wouldn't inhale oxygen, so the grass would gradually poison itself, and it wouldn't exhale CO2, so trees couldn't grow. You require a wholly different ecology in which no living thing eliminates waste. Not sure this is thermodynamically achievable. 
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Offline alancalverd

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Re: Is there a universal moral standard?
« Reply #1526 on: 31/05/2021 00:35:50 »
Heard an interesting discussion about Max Mosley the other day. An odd chap, but with at least one stunning insight.He said in a radio interview that humans were unique in displaying and enjoying cruelty.

Now that makes morality irrelevant to any other species if you define it as "what constrains cruelty".
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Re: Is there a universal moral standard?
« Reply #1527 on: 31/05/2021 02:47:23 »
Quote from: alancalverd on 31/05/2021 00:32:14
I rather feel that if you stopped a cow eating grass, it wouldn't be a cow. It wouldn't inhale oxygen, so the grass would gradually poison itself, and it wouldn't exhale CO2, so trees couldn't grow. You require a wholly different ecology in which no living thing eliminates waste. Not sure this is thermodynamically achievable.
Why being a cow suppose to be so important?  Our ancestors stopped being a fish at one point in the past. It turned out to be good for us since it increased their and our level of consciousness. We should be aware that our descendants/successors may have completely different shapes or forms than us, they may not even look similar to one another.
Efficiency is a universal instrumental goal. But it requires the preservation of conscious entities. Otherwise it would be meaningless.
« Last Edit: 31/05/2021 12:06:47 by hamdani yusuf »
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Offline alancalverd

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Re: Is there a universal moral standard?
« Reply #1528 on: 31/05/2021 12:09:43 »
Quote from: hamdani yusuf on 31/05/2021 02:47:23
We should be aware that our descendants/successors may have completely different shapes or forms than us, they may not even be similar to one another.
But if they are going to live, they must do chemical things, turning food into waste as they do so. Which means you need a complementary species to turn that waste back into food if life is to be sustained. You are looking for a degree of symbiosis that has only been observed in lichens. No problem from my point of view, but you may be disappointed to realise that by your definition the stuff growing on your roof has a higher level of consciousness than yourself!
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Re: Is there a universal moral standard?
« Reply #1529 on: 01/06/2021 01:32:20 »
Quote from: alancalverd on 31/05/2021 12:09:43
You are looking for a degree of symbiosis that has only been observed in lichens. No problem from my point of view, but you may be disappointed to realise that by your definition the stuff growing on your roof has a higher level of consciousness than yourself!
We already make symbiotic relationship with gut bacteria.
Can they make and execute plans better than I can? Can they make predictions about relevant events in the future and then act proactively to get the most desired result.
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Re: Is there a universal moral standard?
« Reply #1530 on: 02/06/2021 14:06:18 »
Apparently. They colonised you, regulated their population to a sustainable level, and determined almost everything about your mood and behavior: when they are hungry or thirsty, they tell you to eat and drink, and if they don't like your choice of food, they encourage you to get rid of it. You can vote Labour as often as you like, but you can't get rid of a bad government.
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Re: Is there a universal moral standard?
« Reply #1531 on: 02/06/2021 23:42:57 »
Quote from: alancalverd on 02/06/2021 14:06:18
Apparently. They colonised you, regulated their population to a sustainable level, and determined almost everything about your mood and behavior: when they are hungry or thirsty, they tell you to eat and drink, and if they don't like your choice of food, they encourage you to get rid of it. You can vote Labour as often as you like, but you can't get rid of a bad government.
Until recently, it was not clear who controls whom. But now we can decide which microbiome should live inside us, which one should die, and we can even genetically modify them to do what we want them to.
Regarding the bad government, if it's still tolerable, you can just chill and play along. Otherwise, you can start a revolution to change the system, or move to another place with better government.
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Re: Is there a universal moral standard?
« Reply #1532 on: 03/06/2021 07:28:09 »
Quote from: hamdani yusuf on 02/06/2021 23:42:57
But now we can decide which microbiome should live inside us, which one should die,
So there is an inevitable conflict of interests, and only human vanity decides which should win. No sign of a universal goal! 
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Re: Is there a universal moral standard?
« Reply #1533 on: 04/06/2021 04:46:01 »
Quote from: alancalverd on 03/06/2021 07:28:09
Quote from: hamdani yusuf on 02/06/2021 23:42:57
But now we can decide which microbiome should live inside us, which one should die,
So there is an inevitable conflict of interests, and only human vanity decides which should win. No sign of a universal goal! 
There are conflict of interest between people from different countries. Also from the same country. Or the same organization. Even among siblings. Even twins. Even among cells in the same human individual. But that doesn't mean that they can't have common goals.
The only similarity applicable to every conscious being, regardless of their shape, form, size, and ingredients, is that they want to extend the existence of consciousness further into the future. It's not restricted to selfish behavior, although self preservation is important up to some limit.
In general, parents want to give better lives to their children. It means that their children would have better chance to survive, but also means that the children are not exactly the same as the parents. Extrapolated to many generations, the accumulated difference between earliest ancestors and latest descendants could be huge, they are unrecognizable anymore to be in the same lineage.
Our ancestors played their roles as the scaffolding to our existence. We also have our role to be the scaffolding to the existence of our descendants or successors. A good moral standard would tell us if we behave like a good or bad scaffolding. It would inevitably prioritize things according to their impacts to the future of consciousness. There would be sacrifices in one form or another.
« Last Edit: 04/06/2021 05:04:52 by hamdani yusuf »
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Re: Is there a universal moral standard?
« Reply #1534 on: 04/06/2021 05:21:58 »
Yuval Noah Harari often says that local problems need local solution, while global problems require global solutions. Finding global solutions require global perspectives.
With the same line of thinking, finding a universal moral standard requires universal perspective. The only constraint is the existence of conscious entities, for there is no perspective without consciousness. No other arbitrary constraints are required, except that they are proven to be necessary instrumental goals to achieve the terminal goal.
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Re: Is there a universal moral standard?
« Reply #1535 on: 04/06/2021 07:04:31 »
According to currently accepted biology, humans evolved from simpler multicellular organisms. They are simply a collection of shape shifting cells with same DNA whose final shapes and functions are determined by their relative positions in the specimen, besides the influence of the environment.
In complex organisms, the cells can take many different shapes and functions, while in simpler ones, the options are limited. Complex organisms like humans have developed better communication systems among their cells, so they can perform more coordinated tasks.
« Last Edit: 04/06/2021 10:43:37 by hamdani yusuf »
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Re: Is there a universal moral standard?
« Reply #1536 on: 04/06/2021 07:35:50 »

What Is the Speed of Thought?
Quote
Here’s a thought: What IS a thought? I know it involves my brain, and my brain is made of neurons. And my brain’s neurons are listening to other neurons all over my body. But how do those neurons actually work? Maybe you’ve heard that it involves electricity, but does that mean you’ve got little zaps and lightning bolts running through your veins like Pikachu? Don’t worry, I’m here to set you straight on what a neuron is, what an action potential is, and how fast your nervous system really communicates.
The point of 1:43 reminds us that human society is similar to multicellular organisms. Our telecommunication system acts like our nervous system, while individual person represents a single cell. Our phone calls, video calls, financial transactions, radio and television broadcast are merging with internet, and no longer operate as separated independent systems. The internet becomes nervous system of human society. A human individual will see AGI in similar way as a human cell see a human brain.
« Last Edit: 04/06/2021 11:05:27 by hamdani yusuf »
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Re: Is there a universal moral standard?
« Reply #1537 on: 04/06/2021 13:22:44 »
Meet Our Nitrogen-Breathing Bacterial Relative


Quote
Oxygen is pretty great stuff, but this recently discovered organism couldn’t care less about oxygen. It breathes nitrogen and may offer a window into how the types of cells in OUR bodies may have evolved billions of years ago.

Real life organisms don't care how we classify them conveniently. As long as it helps them survive, they'll just do it. Starting at 3:25, it's explained that the endosymbiont isn't an organelle like mitochondria, but it's still a bacterium.
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Re: Is there a universal moral standard?
« Reply #1538 on: 06/06/2021 06:22:59 »
Quote from: hamdani yusuf on 04/06/2021 04:46:01
A good moral standard would tell us if we behave like a good or bad scaffolding. It would inevitably prioritize things according to their impacts to the future of consciousness. There would be sacrifices in one form or another.
Sometimes, our unwillingness to make some sacrifices simply means our willingness to make even bigger sacrifices. Unfortunately, it often becomes obvious only in hindsight, which we feel as regrets. Our responses in the face of a pandemic or climate change can be cited as some examples.
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Re: Is there a universal moral standard?
« Reply #1539 on: 08/06/2021 06:56:49 »
Quote from: hamdani yusuf on 06/06/2021 06:22:59
Sometimes, our unwillingness to make some sacrifices simply means our willingness to make even bigger sacrifices.
It's well documented in animal world that parents abandon or even actively kill some of their youngs when they think that they can't afford to provide enough resources for their offsprings, especially when their offsprings have severe birth defects. It's a strategy to make sure that the surviving offsprings would get adequate resource to grow and survive to the next generation. It becomes necessary when the alternative would be dividing limited resources to more offsprings which makes noone get enough to survive.
« Last Edit: 08/06/2021 07:41:43 by hamdani yusuf »
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