RE: ethics, joyous growth, etc.

From: Ben Goertzel (ben@goertzel.org)
Date: Mon Feb 02 2004 - 12:36:31 MST


> Some parts that will feel right (expressed in human ethical terms) may
> include the following:
>
> "The distinction between Self and Other is to be respected." At a very
> basic level, it's all about interaction between a system and its
> environment. Both are important to life. Our evolved nature is that this
> is a fundamental survival value.

"Preserving Self/Other distinctions in the universe" may be a separate value
from "promoting positive experiences" or "promoting growth" -- though there
are certainly crosscorrelations...

> "Growth is the way of all life and is good." Again a fundamental survival
> value shared by all life. Just staying alive is growth.
>
> "The greatest overall growth is achieved through cooperation" Synergy is
> present at all levels of organization. Even competition at one level is
> actually a form of cooperation a higher level. Again, at the human level,
> there are strong evolved tendencies toward cooperation.
>
> "The greatest overall growth is achieved through maximizing
> diversity" At a
> human level, we value greater freedom as a basic good and we recognize its
> practical benefits. This principle is in effect all levels of
> organization.

These seem like principles about how growth is to be attained -- in other
words they're guidelines about how to achieve growth, i.e. guidelines about
which ethical systems are likely to be harmonious with the Principle of
Joyous Growth.

Perhaps "Preserving Self/Other distinctions in the universe" can also be
interpreted in this light... if one believes that preserving self/other
distinctions promotes both general growth and general positive experience

In that case, your statements form a kind of intermediate layer, between the
Principle of Joyous Growth and specific ethical systems. They are
high-level guidelines for forming ethical systems, but not quite as
high-level as the Principle itself.

-- Ben G



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