Ask Lemmy

From that perspective, we can go one step further. Is there some limited pool of chemistry that we are all competing to access. Obviously that is not the case within the physical world. Perhaps the temporal dimension could be considered the primary limiting factor, but in that resource we are all more or less equals, at least from within our social caste.

If we are all just playing a game of chemistry, every move made is of manipulative self interest. The only real difference between individuals in this dimension is self awareness. Most are not aware or thinking in this space.

So then, one should question, what does self awareness mean here? A good way to pose that question in a more concrete abstraction is to say, do you believe that there are truly evil people plotting evil deeds that harm others for the sake of evil as their prime motivation? To plot in such a way is to say that they are causing self harm willingly in their machinations. Does anyone believe that such people exist, or is everyone doing what they believe to be right, and merely ignorant, perhaps even willfully, at the harm they cause?

If you follow this thread of thought from two tangential planes of the same dimension, and mull it over well, Machiavellian is just an arbitrary label for a type of self awareness within the space of 'we are all only chemistry'. If no one is plotting in such a way as to cause self harm, and all the evil in the world is the result of a spectrum of ignorance, then the real question here at somewhere near the bottom is whether you choose to believe in utopia or inevitable dystopia. In another phrasing, is the glass half empty or half full? There is no negative constraint on manipulation.

In the dimension of humans as chemistry, my self awareness doesn't itself mean I wish to benefit myself at your expense. Just because I see how to on some logical plane, does not mean I choose that path. Quite the opposite, my altruism is another dimension entirely. For instance, a place like the fediverse has less ultimate utility for a maker like me when compared to a larger aggregate of digital public commons, but to actively choose to set aside self for more altruistically inclined motivations, is manipulative in a positive form. Especially so when promoting positive engagement from all.

There is no causal link between narcissism, greed, or selfishness and manipulative potential through self awareness, though the first is the only of those three that are real on an ontological level if one analyses them more closely under the same lens of 'what is evil'. If I am keen on altruistic and collaborative benefit; if I am aware that any abstract mechanism of attenuation is itself incapable of amplification, then it is in my own best interest to benefit you and all the rest, regardless of the spectrum of self awareness.

Therefore, everything everyone does is a form of manipulation for chemistry. I am glad you chose to engage with me for this moment in our lives. I wanted the best for you before this interaction dear digital neighbor, and want for the same after. I choose to believe the future will be brighter; that the glass is half full. I believe in it so strongly that I will do my best to bend others to the same, even when I know I do so at my own expense. Caring for others without any expectation of return is the purist form of altruism. In some sense it requires a certain inner self sadism to pursue. Perhaps at times it may be misguided. We are all pareidolia machines of analog organic form. Each of us is unable to take in and sense all the world around us. We form a coherent but assumptive inner narrative of our own existence, but it is always a fiction if scrutinized deeply enough. What are the quantum fields around your neurons right now.

From this perspective, absolutely, I love a person that is altruistically inclined and self aware beyond my scope of thought. I especially love those with emotional intelligence that easily manipulate me in a dimension where I am very weak, but where I need and welcome the help. I really do genuinely care for you as a person. It is primarily driven by logic. It is a more consistent and persistent care. I know I am weak when it comes to emotional empathy, but I actively do my best to compensate with logical empathy which I feel strongly. My unlucky physical disability at the hands of another, and over a decade in constant pain drives my desire for no one to suffer like me. My altruism is within the realm of self sadism. My inner judgemental narrative centers on observing and measuring only the actions of others, and self. I know I did not get very much individual attention as a kid, also that my parents did what they believed to be best. I do not plot for evil. I do not choose to be ignorant of the effects I may have upon others. Does this somehow make me a bad person?

When I see some perspective or argument, I always see a dozen ways to support or discredit it, and various supporting reasons to do so. There is no Self in that perspective. My quale is born from a raw curiosity, but not with malicious intent. That curiosity is more like my inner child, where I am emotionally vulnerable much the same. I must logically do my best to mask that vulnerability when others wish to do me harm. We all exist in many dimensions of thought and self awareness. Some may be more or less outliers. I much prefer those that are aware and open about their states in various dimensions of humanness. There is honesty and the potential for growth in the vulnerability of sharing. So I actively put myself in harms way to say that oversimplification here is harmfully inadequate. If you see it, please feel free to improve my chemistry by whatever means you have available. Actions are all that define you. To me, that is a wonderful action. I apologize if my abstractions and narrative are challenging to follow. My message is, I genuinely care for you as a person, and do not expect anything in return.