The Ultimate Value and the signs of it in ourselves.

[henryp]

Strawberries are not inherently delicious.  Would that make someone finding strawberries delicious paradoxical?

In the case of strawberries, we know they have properties which our tongue converts to taste....

When perceiving ourselves, what is the converter of properties of ourselves or others, that we attempt to convert and our mind perceives things, and what are the properties being converted?

Let's continue with this important discussion....but one suggestion, that is let's all try to be honest about this issue as well!

I think the two are very closely related, in that we have a biological response.  The desire to eat sugar.  The desire to be attractive.  The desire for power.  The desire to be a good person.  All of these things are rooted in positive biological feedback.  A physical reward doled out by the brain.  (different people get different rewards from different actions, as we're biologically different, of course, which is why there isn't a universal set of rules, although there is some general uniformity that can be found)

Is the taste of a strawberry so different than the endorphin rush from exercise,  or the stirring in the loins at the site of a nice pair of bazongas?  The feeling of a job well done, or a good deed done for another.  All of these things have biological feedback.  Strawberries are a little simpler to trace what and why it is happening, but I don't think there's much difference.  

Saddam likely had a lot of good feedback from Power.  Money, wealth, adoration.  What's not to like there.  I don't know about the hero stuff.  Maybe he believed it, maybe it was a self-delusion because believing the delusion had better feedback than the truth that he was a despot?  Maybe that's just how he tried to spin it to the people, to try and get some on his side?

So the property conversion, in my opinion, is just our biology thanks to evolution.  I think for the most part, you can probably figure out why someone perceives value in different ways in the same way you can tell why they like strawberries.   Psychology certainly seems to cover that.  Neuroscience as well.  Evolutionary studies.    All sorts of things address the issue in a physical way.

Her dad left. Her brain develops accordingly. Now she responds differently to older men. Your mom dies young, her favorite flowers were lilacs. Now your favorite flowers are lilacs. You have an evolutionary established fear of death. Someone presents a shaky argument for getting to live forever in happiness, your brain glosses over some of the faults in the story. I don't believe anything isn't explainable with complete knowledge.