1. Do not damage that what is not among your private possessions, living or non-living.
2. Do not treat any sentient being other than yourself as your private property.
3. Do not appropriate anything without permission
of its owners.
4. Do not commit logical fallacies.
5. Think first, act later.
6. Keep your mind open for new ideas, including those that challenge existing ones.
6. Keep your mind open for new ideas, including those that challenge existing ones.
8. Understand the limitations of your human
senses, and of your human mind.
Rule 1-3
A society where things can be privately owned (a capitalistic society) is better than a society where that isn't possible (a communistic society). In the capitalistic society people can accumulate things through hard work. They can improve their life, during their life. Extremely popular games like World of Warcraft and Magic the Gathering show that simply collecting stuff is rewarding. And it is even more rewarding when the items collected give you more options in life (like money does). In a communistic society, where work does not provide you with liberating collectables, you won't be motivated much to do your best. First it is lazy people that perform poorly. Then the industrious people will perform less well because they don't like the inequality. And the do-gooders that work hard despite the inequality can simply not deal with the increasing work load. People suffer more greatly in a society that does not respect private ownership, and that's why rules 1-3 exist.
These rules also prohibit physical assault and coercion. It is clear that such things increase suffering directly, but also indirectly by taking away freedom. Killing does not make the victim suffer, because the victim is dead. He cannot suffer anymore. That does not mean nobody suffers from a death. Friends of the victim suffer greatly, which is enough to prohibit killing. But other people will suffer too. Even when the victims of a terrorist attack are not people you know, you may still suffer from the fear of something similar happening to you or your friends. The more often people are killed in a society, the stronger that fear.
Rule 4
Usually, conflicts do not arise due to fundamental differences between people, but due to logical fallacies. That´s why we need rule 4. THIS WEBSITE presents common logical fallacies in a clear and concise way, please check it out.
One example of a logical fallacy is one I see on a daily basis. It is called 'appeal to nature'. For example, anti-GMO people have prevented the production of golden rice, which has been available since 2002 (and a improved version since 2005). This genetically engineered rice is exactly like regular rice, except for the fact that it produces a good amount of vitamin A and has a yellow/orange color. It is estimated that between 600000 and 1200000 children have unnecessarily gone blind (of vitamin A deficiency) because of the delayed approval of the golden rice (ref). All because "it isn't natural".
Another example is the growing popularity of "biological" food products. These products are made exclusively using low-tech methods, which serves only to decrease efficiency. The rise of the "biological" way of production reduces sustainability, because it requires more land and produces more green-house gasses than the modern methods. This leads to increased extinction, and ultimately to an impoverished world. And when the expensive "biological" food products are the only ones to choose from, our standard of living will be reduced to that of a third world country. Only because these products are "more natural".
Rule 5-6
Nobody knows everything. And most people possess some incorrect information. And even the smartest people will commit logical fallacies now and then. Chances are great that you are wrong about something, sometimes. Acting quickly and not having an open mind decreases the chance of catching your mistake before it's too late.
People usually rather defend their own faulty position than admit they're wrong. That's because admitting to a mistake can be painful. The deeper the error goes, the more pain it does. But waiting is even worse. Imagine someone building a house, and finds out that he has made a mistake when placing the foundations. What's better? To replace the foundations, or to continue building?
Open-mindedness is necessary if we want to improve the human condition.
Rule 1-3
A society where things can be privately owned (a capitalistic society) is better than a society where that isn't possible (a communistic society). In the capitalistic society people can accumulate things through hard work. They can improve their life, during their life. Extremely popular games like World of Warcraft and Magic the Gathering show that simply collecting stuff is rewarding. And it is even more rewarding when the items collected give you more options in life (like money does). In a communistic society, where work does not provide you with liberating collectables, you won't be motivated much to do your best. First it is lazy people that perform poorly. Then the industrious people will perform less well because they don't like the inequality. And the do-gooders that work hard despite the inequality can simply not deal with the increasing work load. People suffer more greatly in a society that does not respect private ownership, and that's why rules 1-3 exist.
These rules also prohibit physical assault and coercion. It is clear that such things increase suffering directly, but also indirectly by taking away freedom. Killing does not make the victim suffer, because the victim is dead. He cannot suffer anymore. That does not mean nobody suffers from a death. Friends of the victim suffer greatly, which is enough to prohibit killing. But other people will suffer too. Even when the victims of a terrorist attack are not people you know, you may still suffer from the fear of something similar happening to you or your friends. The more often people are killed in a society, the stronger that fear.
Rule 4
Usually, conflicts do not arise due to fundamental differences between people, but due to logical fallacies. That´s why we need rule 4. THIS WEBSITE presents common logical fallacies in a clear and concise way, please check it out.
One example of a logical fallacy is one I see on a daily basis. It is called 'appeal to nature'. For example, anti-GMO people have prevented the production of golden rice, which has been available since 2002 (and a improved version since 2005). This genetically engineered rice is exactly like regular rice, except for the fact that it produces a good amount of vitamin A and has a yellow/orange color. It is estimated that between 600000 and 1200000 children have unnecessarily gone blind (of vitamin A deficiency) because of the delayed approval of the golden rice (ref). All because "it isn't natural".
Another example is the growing popularity of "biological" food products. These products are made exclusively using low-tech methods, which serves only to decrease efficiency. The rise of the "biological" way of production reduces sustainability, because it requires more land and produces more green-house gasses than the modern methods. This leads to increased extinction, and ultimately to an impoverished world. And when the expensive "biological" food products are the only ones to choose from, our standard of living will be reduced to that of a third world country. Only because these products are "more natural".
Rule 5-6
Nobody knows everything. And most people possess some incorrect information. And even the smartest people will commit logical fallacies now and then. Chances are great that you are wrong about something, sometimes. Acting quickly and not having an open mind decreases the chance of catching your mistake before it's too late.
People usually rather defend their own faulty position than admit they're wrong. That's because admitting to a mistake can be painful. The deeper the error goes, the more pain it does. But waiting is even worse. Imagine someone building a house, and finds out that he has made a mistake when placing the foundations. What's better? To replace the foundations, or to continue building?
Open-mindedness is necessary if we want to improve the human condition.
Rule 7-8
You know that people lie, and that people make mistakes. And that a lot of people trust those that lie and make mistakes. However, trusting only yourself is not possible if you want a pleasant life, because you cannot experience everything yourself. You cannot constantly travel all over the world to confirm the things you hear on the news. You cannot perform every scientific experiment yourself because you lack the understanding (it's nearly impossible to be an expert in all scientific fields), as well as the means. When the system consists of people checking other people you can trust it to a certain degree. Especially if they employ good information-gathering methods. The chance that the people working in the same field are all lying or all making the same mistake is a lot smaller than one of them doing that. But you should always be critical, and careful to accept anything as a truth.
Not criticizing statements increases corruption, and eventually leads to a terrible dictatorship where any kind of advancement (technological, cultural) does not exist. That's because all advancement requires the criticism of current (flawed) ideas. Clearly such an un-free society causes more suffering than a society where criticism is allowed, or encouraged.
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