https://x.com/slatestarcodex/status/1886089392961532265
I went on a walk and saw a child drowning in the river. I was going to jump in and save him, when someone reminded me that I should care about family members more than strangers. So I continued on my way and let him drown.
— Scott Alexander (@slatestarcodex) February 2, 2025
BONUS: Marc Andreessen QTs with a heatmap meme, Scott points out that facts don't care about your feelings (i.e. rightoids can't read)
Hi Marc. I know the heatmap meme, but I think the study it comes from ( https://t.co/rqK2vSX7EU ) is saying something really interestingly different from the meme version.
β Scott Alexander (@slatestarcodex) February 3, 2025
The study finds (see Figure 1) that liberals care about their friends more than conservatives do*.β¦
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
The dumb analogy misses the point.
Trying to save a drowning adult would be dangerous to Scott, like a 5% or so risk that both would die. In that case the moral pie calculation can go either way depending on how much you love strangers in comparison to yourself. But a boy isn't going to pull him underwater, there is no moral trade off to make.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
More options
Context