X-Message-Number: 32128 From: Date: Mon, 2 Nov 2009 10:35:43 EST Subject: tautology I wrote: > >There is never any conscious self sacrifice, only the sacrifice of > >one want in favor of another. You may sacrifice your life for >>someone or something you hold dear, but if the choice is a >>conscious one that simply means that, at that time and place, >>you calculate more pain or less satisfaction in making the >>superficially "selfish" choice. DSS wrote: >This is a tautology. Not so, as I have discussed in YOUNIVERSE. Part of the refutation of the "tautology" charge is in the recognition that my viewpoint is useful, providing incentive to examine more closely the genesis or bases of your choices, conscious and otherwise. As for evolutionary psychology, some of it is complicated and doubtful, while some is obvious and unquestionable--for example, it was an evolutionary necessity that parents be disposed to take risks or/and make sacrifices for their children. A remark on the matter of unconscious choice and action before conscious decision. Choices can occur in several ways, and unconscious choices e.g. can arise through mechanisms including mere habit or accident. But conscious choices do indubitably often occur, and making them correctly can be vital. Through conscious choices we can also train ourselves to make more appropriate unconscious choices. The main point, once more, is that it can be extremely useful, even life-saving, to review your habits of behavior and inquire whether they serve your real and justifiable interests. Robert Ettinger Content-Type: text/html; charset="US-ASCII" [ AUTOMATICALLY SKIPPING HTML ENCODING! ] Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=32128