The things that I want to spend my life doing are:
(1) Making the universe a better place.
(2) Solving interesting and important problems.
(3) Socially connecting with other people.
Note that this list advocates for performing actions which lead to personal positive conscious experiences (2 and 3) and also performing actions to enable other people to have more personal positive conscious experiences (1).
Q: Are (2,3) âselfishâ?
A: Yes. But:
- Even if itâs a little bit âunaestheticâ I donât currently feel that it is right to abandon these desires.
- (2,3) are instrumental towards (1) â I can make the universe a better place by working on important problems and connecting with other people. Also, (2,3) are important for me being excited in general.
- (2,3) at least make my life better, are part of me contributing to the sum of positive conscious experience.
- By placing (1) in front of (2,3) Iâm subtly hinting that (1) is in some sense more important than (2,3).