[ExI] People are Genuine Altruists, Sociopaths, or Confused/Moody

[Harvey Newstrom]

"Lee Corbin" <lcorbin at rawbw.com> wrote,
> Let's say that with perfect impunity you can leave that restaurant you'll
> never visit again in that distant city that you'll never visit it again.
> Explain to me how it is in your self-interest, under these conditions,
> to leave a tip.

This is silly.  I keep answering your questions, and you keep making them 
more contrived to avoid my benefit.

Your latest contrivance only works if I never visit that city, or at least 
that restaurant, again.  Great.  Now I have to keep a list of people and 
places that I have cheated so that I can avoid them for the rest of my life. 
It doesn't seem worth it to save a few measly bucks.

But I see a pattern here.  So let's skip into the future where you have 
contrived enough unlikely events that you get the answer you want.  (I am 
starving to death in a strange city that is about to be destroyed by an 
asteroid impact, I only have time to tip or teleport out of there, I forgot 
my wallet anyway, and I realize that its a bad dream and I'm waking up.) 
OK, so I finally concede that I don't always tip in every situation.  You 
win.  So what's your response?  Is there any point to this line of 
questioning when we get to the end?

I also wonder if you cheat people all the time like you seem to be arguing 
makes sense.  If so, why don't you explain why you do it rather than trying 
to get me to explain why I don't.  Or if you don't cheat, why don't you 
reveal your reasons to us.  And maybe if they are good enough for you they 
are good enough for the rest of us.  Is this going to turn out to be another 
case where you actually agree with me (you don't cheat), but wanted to see 
my response to your thought experiments?  And you aren't seriously trying to 
convince people that cheating is the best policy?

--
Harvey Newstrom <www.HarveyNewstrom.com>
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