Learn How to Play

jmikolash · 2013-12-17T22:45:06+00:00

The 48 rules of power is the next book I have lined up.

someonewrongonthenet · 2013-12-18T04:35:47+00:00

The whole point of having power is to use it to fulfill your preferences. Your preferences always take precedence over everything else.

If you embrace this philosophy of having your primary goal to win the game and gain power, taken to a logical extreme would mean that murdering somebody in order to take his money would be acceptable, since it furthers your own power.

If you are like most people, your primary goal is probably not "to gain power". Your primary goal is to fulfill your preferences, and power is the means to that end. If you are like most people, killing people goes against your preferences.

Sometimes, you can make a trade:

1) Do something that goes against your preferences

2) Your actions have a result (power, in this case)

3) Use that result (power) to fulfill more of your preferences....effectively making up for the loss in step 1.

^ you only do the above if it results in a net gain in preferences being fulfilled. For example, doing work costs 10 utils, but gets you money, and with that money you can buy things that give you 100 utils, for a net profit of 90 utils If there isn't a net gain, there is no point in doing it.

So there isn't a conflict between power and morality. The reason one doesn't typically murder people is that the death costs you 10000 utils...whereas the best possible thing you could use the power for is only a gain of 500 utils. That would leave you with a net loss of 9500 utils. It's simply a bad trade.

Some people have a stronger weight on the "morality" sub-set of their preferences, and some people have less. People with a stronger "morality" weight aren't "opting out" of the game...it's just that they have a different set of Win Conditions for the game.

Sure, the game might be easier with a set of Win Conditions which is less morality weighted...but you can't really alter (and by definition you do not want to alter) your fundamental preferences.

For example, if "don't torture innocent people" is fundamental value, then you don't want to torture innocent people and you don't want to want to torture innocent people. Any time an innocent person get's tortured, your preferences are being violated and that counts against your score in the Game. Stopping the torture, even if it brought you no power or personal benefit, would be part of the Win Condition for your Game.

deepthrill · 2013-12-17T21:48:26+00:00

Awesome post, very insightful. I've never thought about it in that depth, but I agree with you.

[deleted] · 2013-12-17T23:58:46+00:00

[permanently deleted]

[deleted] · 2013-12-17T22:10:04+00:00

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manhunt0r · 2013-12-17T21:58:45+00:00

i will comment on the only part i believe to be of interest to me - opting out.

powerlessness will make you miserable

not true given the appropriate mindset, living as intoxicated cattle is no less or more valid than having made it in life if on your scale of values they are equal (blabla nihilism blabla).

By pretending you're not playing, you're simply letting others take advantage of you.

if its the matter of someone getting a boost off of you - why not, unless it costs you disproportionate effort.

You will sit comfortably on your high moral horse while others lead your horse wherever they please.

nyes. while certainly remaining stationary i will continue not giving a fuck.

What's ironic is that by protesting the idea of a game of power in order to claim moral superiority and righteousness, you are actually doing it to further your own emotions and are therefore actually acting selfishly.

i wont claim shit, this is most certainly an "evil" and shallowly self satisfying way of life (from society's point of view).

corsair_d · 2013-12-18T08:05:55+00:00

fuck you jackass

Hokuten85 · 2013-12-17T21:04:43+00:00

Herp derp...I don't have a good reason why I don't rape.

sigh there's an entirely rational reason for not condoning this. There'd be a lot of dead people(women). There's be a lot of fatherless children. There'd be no ability to ensure the survival of one's genes if we lived in a world that allowed this.

kzwrp · 2013-12-17T23:21:28+00:00

in which /u/kzwrp destroys the feel good bullshit seen above by quoting the Bible, one bad-ass Philosopher and a libertarian hero.

This "dilemma" you stipulate can be solved rationally and easily by principles outlined by Jesus, Kant and Murray Rothbard.

Jesus preached "Do unto others what you want them to do to you."

Kant called it cathegorical imperative, "Act only according to that maxim whereby you can, at the same time, will that it should become a universal law."

Murray Rothbard phrased it as "No one may threaten or commit violence ('aggress') against another man's person or property. Violence may be employed only against the man who commits such violence; that is, only defensively against the aggressive violence of another. In short, no violence may be employed against a nonaggressor. Here is the fundamental rule from which can be deduced the entire corpus of libertarian theory."

The common meme inherent in the three statements quoted above is that it is perfectly within your self-interest to not commit murder, theft, rape or any other action which you'd not have done onto you.

You do not need to emphathise with the used-car dealer (also, they're all sleazebags trying to screw you over as much as possible).

You do not need to emphathise with the guy whose house you do not break in.

You do not need to emphathise with the broad you're not going to rape (she might have a bad-ass motherfucker brother who'd deflower your anus painfully).

Stop spilling feel good bullshit, get rational and things will become clear.

EDIT: Woops. Mixed up emphasise with empathise. Fixed, thanks.

Title	Learn How to Play
Author	deepthrill
Upvotes	40
Comments	52
Date	December 17, 2013 7:03 PM UTC (12 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/TheRedPill
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/TheRedPill/comments/1t3vhg/learn_how_to_play/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/TheRedPill/learn-how-to-play.8977 https://theredarchive.com/post/8977

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