On Bostrum's old email:
It's clear from the context that his email was intended to test the limits of an <offensiveness is good, actually> position. His apology mail from less than 24 hours after makes it clear that this was his intent.
@Hyolobrika Bostrum dumpster dived himself doing a racism before his enemies could. But his other response in the same thread shows that the racism was not in good faith, but was a troll.
https://extropians.weidai.com/extropians.96/0484.html
"In order to
make my point I thought that I should pick an example that
really was offensive. Well, it seems I succeeded only too
well. Let me say again, just to make sure that there be no
misunderstandings: I am NOT a racist."
What is "dumpster diving" in this context?
dumpster diving: digging through old archives/post/etc looking for something bad to show off. (Usually featuring down voted reddit posts presented as representative of the community.)
Baby's first HBD email:
That feels like such a refreshing take. Too often, people conflate judgements on intelligence with judgements on moral worth.
Then again, many people (including) use intelligence in living things to determine how well we are obligated to treat them. This is true whether you are a vegan, a vegetarian, or a carnivore.
I'm not sure how to resolve that contradiction. I suppose we could just say that humans or creatures with a nervous system are special regardless of intelligence. But that feels speciesist.
I guess we could use emotional complexity.