From: Reilly Jones (70544.1227@compuserve.com)
Date: Thu Feb 06 1997 - 00:04:59 MST
Eliezer Yudkowsky wrote 2/5/97: <...suppose the Meaning of Life is "new
ideas".>
I think you mean "new true ideas" here as opposed to "new false ideas." I
think you are getting at this when you then say:
<If you can assign an absolute (non-probabilistic) positive value to
anything, without deluding yourself or being motivated by externally
imposed goals, that is the Meaning of Life.>
Avoiding delusion is avoiding "new false ideas." You do not need to rule
out being motivated by externally imposed goals in order to have meaning,
as long as you exercise free will in choosing to be so motivated. For
example, if we have a homeostatic genetic regulatory system designed to
promote our survival until we reproduce, we do not *have* to be motivated
by this externally imposed goal. We can always off ourselves by free will.
Seeking "new true ideas" sounds like the perennial favorite, the desire for
knowledge of self, others and the environment. The next question is,
knowledge to do what and why? If "new true ideas" or knowledge is the
object you are purposefully seeking, what is the source of the object and
why not seek it?
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reilly Jones | Philosophy of Technology:
Reilly @compuserve.com | The rational, moral and political relations
| between 'How we create' and 'Why we create'
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