On: You can't optimize your way to being a good person

[seanhunter]

Exactly. What I take away from that passage is "most of the time it's really not hard to figure out how to be a good person so you're better off actually taking some concrete positive action than spending further time navel-gazing".

Like in TFA. Just be kind to others. Be thoughtful. Be nice to people even when you don't have to be. Try to make life better for those around you. But also be kind to yourself. Don't worry about doing the best thing. Just try to do some good things. Everything will work out ok.

[kbelder → seanhunter]

I listened to an advice show many years back. The vast majority of callers had a question that could be paraphrased:

"I have this problem, and I should do X, but I really want to do Y." The host would say, "do X."

Once I realized that, I noticed that I sometimes stumbled over the same choice.