Conundrum's video: David Pearce s Hedonistic Imperative - A Critique

A critique of Pearce's plan to abolish all involuntary suffering. Pearce envisions a future where people will be able to use advanced technology to edit genetic codes of all animal species and equip them with AI implants. All this to completely remove unwanted suffering and to allow life to experience gradations of bliss. This is a noble idea. And what's more, it's written in sufficient detail to motivate future discoveries and actions. It is not without its problems, though. Here, I'll look at these ideas from various aspects and show that some obstacles make the plan very unlikely to succeed or straight out impossible. Full text on my blog: https://figmentsofspeculation.wordpress.com/2020/02/26/david-pearces-hedonistic-imperative-a-critique/ Connect with me on: Twitter: https://twitter.com/WackyConundrum to stay in touch. And check out my blog "Figments of Speculation": https://figmentsofspeculation.wordpress.com/ Links and References David Pearce responds in the comments on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/hedonistic.imperative/permalink/10157472715526965 David Pearce - Effective Altruism - Phasing Out Suffering. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yym0VzgXBGk David Pearce - Towards the Abolition of Suffering. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdXz4juOTwo David Pearce - Wild animal suffering - Ethics of Wildlife Management and Conservation Biology. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDZ3MtC5Et8 The Hedonistic Imperative - David Pearce. Science, Technology & the Future. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v07VZIQyoMc David Pearce - High-Tech Jainism. Science, Technology & the Future. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcajIIcRgys David Pearce. The Abolitionist Project. https://www.abolitionist.com David Pearce. The Hedonistic Imperative. https://www.hedweb.com/hedab.htm David Pearce. Compassionate Biology: How CRISPR-based "gene drives" could cheaply, rapidly and sustainably reduce suffering throughout the living world. https://www.gene-drives.com/ David Pearce. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Pearce_(philosopher) David Pearce on Twitter: https://twitter.com/webmasterdave David Pearce on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/user/davidcpearce/ Brian Tomasik. Are Happiness and Suffering Symmetric? https://reducing-suffering.org/happiness-suffering-symmetric/ Brian Tomasik. Risks of Astronomical Future Suffering. Foundational Research. https://foundational-research.org/risks-of-astronomical-future-suffering/ Theodore J. Kaczynski. Anti-Tech Revolution: Why and How. Fitch & Madison Publishers, 2016. Conundrum. Ted Kaczynski - Anti Tech Revolution: Why and How | Summary. https://youtu.be/oc7B7s7f5PE World’s first gene-edited babies created in China, claims scientist. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/nov/26/worlds-first-gene-edited-babies-created-in-china-claims-scientist AI-based Deepfake technology used in political elections. Vice. https://www.vice.com/en_in/article/jgedjb/the-first-use-of-deepfakes-in-indian-election-by-bjp David Pearce would walk away from Omelas. Twitter. https://twitter.com/webmasterdave/status/1142541502951940099 Some Quora answers on transhumanism, superhappiness, AI, superintelligence, veganism, utilitarianism, quantum mechanics, philosophy of mind, consciousness and stuff by David Pearce. https://www.hedweb.com/quora/index.html Evolutionary capacitance. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionary_capacitance Evolvability. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolvability Greg Gibson, Laura K. Reed. Cryptic genetic variation. Cell. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2008.08.011 Selfish genetic element. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selfish_genetic_element Gene drive. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_drive Etienne Rajon, Joanna Masel. Evolution of molecular error rates and the consequences for evolvability. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1012918108 Genetic pollution. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_pollution Paul Brown. GM crops created superweed, say scientists. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2005/jul/25/gm.food Tony Carnie. South Africa: wild animals at risk of 'genetic pollution'. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/29/south-africa-wild-animals-at-risk-of-genetic-pollution Ferris Jabr. The gene that jumped. Aeon. https://aeon.co/essays/genes-that-jump-species-does-this-shake-the-tree-of-life Jonathan Latham. Gene-Editing Unintentionally Adds Bovine DNA, Goat DNA, and Bacterial DNA, Mouse Researchers Find. Independent Science News. https://www.independentsciencenews.org/health/gene-editing-unintentionally-adds-bovine-dna-goat-dna-and-bacterial-dna-mouse-researchers-find/ China’s CRISPR twins might have had their brains inadvertently enhanced. MIT Technology Review. https://www.technologyreview.com/s/612997/the-crispr-twins-had-their-brains-altered/ Tags