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Personality Basins

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160 points qouteall | 3 comments | 21 Nov 24 12:25 UTC | HN request time: 1.402s | source
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jollyllama ◴[21 Nov 24 13:25 UTC] No.42204097[source]▶
> A common mistake in life is to let your personality basin solidify too early. Your parents and schooling environment have a disproportionately large influence on who you become as an adolescent.

> But as soon as you gain the freedom to act independently as an adult, it’s usually a good idea to force yourself to try as many new things as you can, including moving cities (or countries!) and considering drastically different lines of work. ...

Oh dear, I'm beginning to fear that the author's personality has been captured by global capital...

And what if it's personality capture all the way down, i.e. that you've got to be personality captured by someone? In that case, the closest you can get to a choice is whether it's your parents, religion, or someone/something else. While the integrity of your parents may vary, there is a subjective argument that they've got a better incentive to steer you into an optimal basin than anybody, relatively speaking.

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Ensorceled ◴[21 Nov 24 13:32 UTC] No.42204156[source]▶
> there is a subjective argument that they've got a better incentive to steer you into an optimal basin than anybody, relatively speaking

Many parents do not have their kids best interest at heart; from religious fanatics to divorced parents using their kids as pawns to failed athletes living vicariously through their "he'll be in the NHL someday" fantasies to just parents who didn't want have kids and don't care at all.

Then there a whole slew of parents who genuinely want what is best for their kids but won't succeed due to incompetence or their own issues with drug addition or passing on generational trauma.

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adrianN ◴[21 Nov 24 13:40 UTC] No.42204201[source]▶
I’m reasonably sure that religious fanatics usually have their children’s best interest at heart. Their value function is just different from that of less religious people.
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1. ndileas ◴[21 Nov 24 14:10 UTC] No.42204454[source]▶
Something something a different enough value function is indistinguishable from malice.

More seriously, like the old adage about everyone being the hero of their own story, all parents think they have their children's best interests at heart. There's probably no such thing as universal best interests. Gets at some of the thorny problems - personhood, adulthood, cultural values.

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2. MrMcCall ◴[21 Nov 24 14:44 UTC] No.42204756[source]▶
It depends on the person, and it depends on the religion. There are positive and negative values, and a misaligned person may well believe they are doing right but actually causing damage. That is why humility, compassion, and honesty are prerequisites for all successful undertakings.
3. adrianN ◴[22 Nov 24 11:44 UTC] No.42213026[source]▶
The difference between a malicious value function and unethical conduct is intent; at least in some systems of ethics. Beyond that I think the discussion shifts to the realm of philosophy papers and becomes unsuited for HN comment boxes.