I have nothing to say about the philosophical arguments. But I think it’s important to adopt mental frameworks that are compatible with you having a fulfilling life. To me, that is the highest moral principle, but that’s why I’m not a moral philosopher. To you, who cares more about moral truth seeking, I appeal to the life jacket heuristic; you should always put the life jacket on yourself first, and then others, because you’re no good to other people if you don’t take care of yourself first. A mental framework that leaves you incapacitated by moral anxiety is detrimental to your ability to help all sentient creatures.
Concretely, I encourage you not to think yourself into nightmares. If your views push you to internalize a moral conclusion, you can take that conclusion without internalizing the moral panic that prompted that conclusion. You can decide that AI sentience and invertebrate welfare are the top moral priorities without waking up in a cold sweat about them. You can think about possibilities like alien welfare as questions to be answered rather than sources of anxiety.
And if you fail to live up to your moral standards, be disappointed, strive to be better, but don’t doom spiral. Ultimately, we are human and fragile. Don’t break yourself with the weight of being something more.
I have nothing to say about the philosophical arguments. But I think it’s important to adopt mental frameworks that are compatible with you having a fulfilling life. To me, that is the highest moral principle, but that’s why I’m not a moral philosopher. To you, who cares more about moral truth seeking, I appeal to the life jacket heuristic; you should always put the life jacket on yourself first, and then others, because you’re no good to other people if you don’t take care of yourself first. A mental framework that leaves you incapacitated by moral anxiety is detrimental to your ability to help all sentient creatures.
Concretely, I encourage you not to think yourself into nightmares. If your views push you to internalize a moral conclusion, you can take that conclusion without internalizing the moral panic that prompted that conclusion. You can decide that AI sentience and invertebrate welfare are the top moral priorities without waking up in a cold sweat about them. You can think about possibilities like alien welfare as questions to be answered rather than sources of anxiety.
And if you fail to live up to your moral standards, be disappointed, strive to be better, but don’t doom spiral. Ultimately, we are human and fragile. Don’t break yourself with the weight of being something more.