Thanks! I’m not trying to resolve concerns around cluelessness in general, and I agree there are situations (many or even most of the really tough ‘cluelessness’ cases) where the whole ‘is this constructive?’ test isn’t useful, since that can be part of what you’re clueless about, or other factors might dominate.
Why do you think we ought to privilege the particular reason that you point to?
Well, I’m saying the ‘is this constructive’ test is a way to latch on to a certain kind of confidence, viz the confidence that you are moving towards a better world. If others also take constructive actions towards similar outcomes, and/or in the fullness of time, you can be relatively confident you helped get to that better world.
This is not the same thing as saying your action was right, since there are locally harmful ways to move toward a better world. And so I don’t have as much to say about when or how much to privilage this rule!
Thanks! I’m not trying to resolve concerns around cluelessness in general, and I agree there are situations (many or even most of the really tough ‘cluelessness’ cases) where the whole ‘is this constructive?’ test isn’t useful, since that can be part of what you’re clueless about, or other factors might dominate.
Well, I’m saying the ‘is this constructive’ test is a way to latch on to a certain kind of confidence, viz the confidence that you are moving towards a better world. If others also take constructive actions towards similar outcomes, and/or in the fullness of time, you can be relatively confident you helped get to that better world.
This is not the same thing as saying your action was right, since there are locally harmful ways to move toward a better world. And so I don’t have as much to say about when or how much to privilage this rule!