We all have core beliefs of about fundamental areas of philosophy,
including morality and epistemology, whether acknowledged or not. For
most of us, these beliefs are imposed by our families and society, and
for most of us, these beliefs will go unexamined. I find it quite
engaging to explore those beliefs, but so far I get that the majority of
the list is not interested in those topics or doesn't care to explore
them in this list, at least. With this consideration, I don't plan to
discuss it more than this post.

Charisma and talking from the heart do not make you a good guy. They may
mean that you are charismatic or persuasive, but I do not accept your
proposed moral relativism. Nor do I accept the label of "bad guy" for
myself. I don't get the sense that you are a bad guy, either, Amir, but
it's your call whether to accept it for yourself.

Acknowledging someone's evil doesn't mean that I won't learn from him.
On the contrary, I learn much from evil people. And the fact that I
learn from someone doesn't make them good, or justify their behavior.

Talking about virtuous topics at a conference is extremely different
from what Hitler did or starting a company to data mine for the CIA.
Suggesting otherwise strains the limits of credulity. "Systems of
control" is a wonderfully morally ambiguous phrase that obscures the
line between people who initiate violence those who do not. Government
agencies, militaries, genocidal dictators... these are not morally
opaque realms.

Intentions are not always empirically observable, but behavior always is.

-Kristov

On 05/31/2014 12:29 PM, Amir Taaki wrote:
> Hitler was a good guy, and we're all bad guys too :) If you listen to
> his speeches, so much charisma, talking from the heart.
> We should never hand wave fascists as "that crowd" but try to understand
> the logic so we can truly undermine it.
> It's not so shallow as you think, and more pervasive than we realise.
>
> Would you go to a Bilderburg meeting to advocate? It can be argued both
> ways. In the end you manage to convince yourself of becoming a
> Bilderburger consorting with aristocrats.
>
> Peter Thiel seems like the guy doing one thing with the left hand, and
> another with the right.
> I will be sure to ask him about his reasoning simply to understand when
> I meet him.
>
> How about all the people here that participated in the Bitcoin
> Foundation conference? It's really not so different when you compare...
> Cody said he'd love to go, and many of our friends attended.
>
> Are you undermining a system of control, or are you justifying your
> participation? The lines aren't so clear sometimes, and the road paved
> good intentions.
>
> On 05/31/2014 02:24 PM, Kristov Atlas wrote:
>> On 05/31/2014 02:08 AM, Josh Walker wrote:
>>> THIS. Exactly this. The thing we must not forget, is that in all
>>> likelihood Hitler himself awoke believing he was doing good. The
>>> capability for self-deception is a defining characteristic of our
>>> sentience. It's scary, and we should never stop worrying that we could
>>> become equally misguided.
>>>
>>> For this reason, I am very nervous around anyone who appoints
>>> themselves judge and jury, declaring things black and white, with an
>>> "I would never...". No offense intended, Kristoff: We've hung out, and I
>>> like you very much. I just urge you to be careful, because as soon as
>>> we assume to be the side of universal good, and stop seeking to
>>> understand how others have arrived at their positions, we are just as
>>> close and just as likely the bad guy as they are.
>> I'm genuinely sorry to hear that, again.
>>
>> But no, there is no scenario in which my understanding of ethics and
>> myself leads me to become like Hitler. There is no mystery about what
>> Hitler led to his behavior -- childhood trauma leading to psychopathic
>> behavior, and an utter lack of principles. Objective ethics (when
>> correct and applied universally) do not lead you toward evil, but
>> liberate you from it. It's understandably scary since ethics were
>> invented for the purpose of and used for manipulation for vast swaths of
>> human history, but the study has been remarkably refined by the exertion
>> of *actual* philosophy in the last few decades. This study is not
>> complete, but the principles are sound, just as we currently have a
>> sound approach to building bridges that don't collapse.
>>
>> As modern abolitionists, I encourage allies to wield principled
>> morality. Arguing about how the cotton will picked in the future is dumb.
>>
>> -Kristov
>>
>>
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