Now that we have some explanation for people’s actions, I think it is also important to explain why people hold different beliefs, why we have such differing opinions on what is right or wrong, and what is good or bad. The first thing to point out is that there is no objective right or wrong, good or bad. But some things bring us lower and higher utility, and that is what we are talking about. When we say something like “abortion is wrong, ”we are essentially expressing our dislike for abortion.
And just to be more convincing, we use objective terms like right or wrong, instead of saying “I dislike it when people are performing abortions”. Of course, most people truly believe that some objective norms exist out there, because it brings us S-utility to believe that they exist. Let’s look at an example and see why people might hold such different beliefs.
When talking about abortion, the proponents have P high up in their value system, and the opponents don’t. Giving birth is physically uncomfortable, and a woman must have a choice to rid herself of the discomfort. The opponents of abortion have the I-value high up in their value system. They see that every abortion reduces the chance of survival by the tiniest amount. These people are usually concerned about the country’s birth rates for the same reason.
The values do not matter if the person is religious, and religion is truly a genius invention. It tells you what you should and should not do (S), it tells you about the fundamental structure of the world (O), it tells you about what happened and what will happen (M), it scares you with the existence of hell (P). As you can see, it touches on all reality-based utility sources, and so it is appealing to all people. But, of course, if your highest valued utility source is one of the action ones, then religion won’t mean much to you, even if you believe in it.
But if we have rational, agnostic discourse, then other debates like immigration (P+E vs I), government intervention (O vs S), war (P vs I), animal rights (A vs O), culture preservation (I vs E) and many, many others are all reducible to your values. There are no right or wrong answers to the questions of morality of abortion, immigration, or even slavery or the holocaust. If you go to a radical religious society and tell them that we all need to band together to create a society in which our physical well-being is cherished, they might just not care, because to them, the moral imperative (S) is more important than well-being (P), for example. And they would truly suffer, as though they were mentally tortured, if they lived in a world where everyone worked together to promote each other’s well-being.
That said, moral discourse and factual arguments are not pointless. For one, just the act of discussion engages Objective and Subjective utility sources (OCSA). Additionally, some people hold beliefs contrary to their values. For example, if a 6 tells you that an anarchic society is better than a totalitarian one, and you are a 5, then convincing them actually gets you just that little bit closer to a totalitarian society, which is good (or desirable, if you will) for both of you. This way, the 6 is better aligned with their values, and to them, a totalitarian society is “objectively” better than an anarchic one.
