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0 pointswfn12y ago0 comments

Yes, I see your point. Or at least, this made me re-think things that I've also been considering, namely: this kind of 'shunning'/etc. of explicit techniques is a biased selector of certain kinds of people (natural womanizers, whoever.) Hence the resulting ethical framework is not as egalitarian as it may appear to be on first glance.

> Or is it perhaps better because the individual in question is at least conscious of his persuasion or manipulation, and can question his motives?

That's also a fair point, it makes a certain amount of sense.

Again and again I wonder how much of our ethics is derived from 'folk psychology' which is itself biased towards 'intuitive' behaviours (whatever they may be; but in this case it would e.g. include unconscious/natural flirting, whatnot), and is biased against 'uncanny valley' reflexive mindstates (e.g. "i am aware `(that she is aware that i am aware)^n` that i am currently deliberately employing subtext in the current dialogue", etc.)

..and this could simply be a kind of aesthetic bias (that might make sense for us, humans), but whether it says anything about ethics is a wholly different question, say.

..this might have been a bit of a ramble. Interested in pointers towards literature, too.

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mercer12y ago· 1 in thread

> ..and this could simply be a kind of aesthetic bias (that might make sense for us, humans)

I think that sounds very plausible. We generally don't seem to like it when someone 'pulls aside the curtain' when it comes to things that feel hard to control or define.

For example, the best way to escalate a fight is to say something like "are you on your period?" or "did you not get enoug sleep last night?" They are perfectly valid questions in themselves, but asking them (assuming you mean well, of course) is not a good idea.

It makes sense that our minds don't like being treated like the often irrational, physical organs that they really are.

For example, while I feel perfectly comfortable treating a 'physical' headache with pills, I feel much less comfortable taking medication that alters my mood (although doing so for fun, and being 'in control' makes it significantly more acceptable).

wfnOP12y ago

Yes indeed, and now I recall my curiosity about the fact that kissing with our eyes open doesn't really work (in most cases / as a rule, etc.) You can't really explain it away by saying that 'one needs to divert (cognitive, whatever) resources from the eyes / visual stimuli': there's a specific kind of eeriness that is sometimes present, etc. Very interesting.

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