Today’s episode with the always-interesting Benjamin Stringer is part one of a discussion. Part two will be available on his Substack, Axiom's First.

This conversation is an experiment in thought and discussion. I have been building a model that explains the mechanics of moral-political progress, and recently reached a point in my thinking where I felt I had sufficiently clarified the key concepts in my own mind and would benefit from a discussion about them in my attempt to integrate them.

The following are the concepts we discuss in the podcast:

* Incentives

“People are as moral as incentives will allow.”

* Virtue-Competition Trap

A moral Pareto Efficiency wherein people must trade off between values.

* Innovation

Technological, economic and moral developments which allow for the expansion of the Virtue-Competition frontier, permitting more moral behaviour.

* Iteration

Iterated interaction between agents is what incentivises moral behaviour.

* Negotiation

Negotiation regulates iterated behaviour.

Neither my framework nor these concepts is fully developed. I thought it would be interesting to play with these ideas in public, and I encourage you to comment if you have any comments or criticisms to add to our conversation.

Part two of the discussion can be found here:

This is part 2 of a discussion with Benjamin Stringer about his framework for understanding intentions. We don’t rehash anything, so click here for part 1.

As always, check out Ben’s Substack, Axioms First.

In our second podcast together, Ben and I discuss rationality and reason, topics on which we have changed our opinions, tools for remaining flexible in our thinking, areas of thought we may not approach fairly, Libertarianism, incentive structures and competing virtues, and a principle to live by: “Don’t take your own emotional reactions as moral evidence."