Summary
This post brainstorms values that are widespread among different individuals in the present moment, assuming that these individuals have a broad intuitive understanding of alternative situations they could be in. These values are: Basic needs fulfillment, Meaningful progress understanding, Supportive environment reliability, Freedom of choice, Healthy life, Freedom from stress, Freedom from negative emotions, Awareness of one’s morality/righteousness, and Leisure. Hypothetical examples are included for inspiration.
I thank Ben Smith for a discussion on value theories and Richard Ngo for advice on the framing of this post. All errors are mine.
Basic needs fulfillment
The fulfillment of life-sustaining needs.
Example: An ant that has sufficient nutrition, water, and rest and has other life-sustaining needs met.
Physical comfort
Physical comfort particular to a species and an individual.
Example: A lizard that enjoys an appropriate temperature and humidity and is otherwise physically comfortable.
Meaningful progress understanding
The emotional/intuitive understanding of one’s and one’s environment’s progress toward a meaningful objective.
Example: A beaver maintaining a dam, assuming that they perceive local ecosystem development and assign it meaning.
Supportive environment reliability
The awareness of one’s environment’s universally supportive nature.
Example: Human supporting and being supported by others, assuming an isolated system.
Freedom of choice
The ability to choose one’s situation at any given time.
Example: Cricket with various habitat options, assuming that they are uninterested in other types of choices.
Healthy life
Life that is free from unwanted diseases.
Example: A catfish that is free from parasitic diseases, injuries, and other diseases, assuming that these are unwanted.
Freedom from stress
Freedom from negatively perceived stress, assuming one has an understanding of alternatives.
Example: Cat that is free to do what they want, assuming that they do not experience negative stress.
Freedom from negative emotions
Freedom from all negative emotions, including fear, shame, guilt, jealousy, anxiety, and sadness.
Example: A dog that continues to succeed in their tasks, assuming that they do not feel negative emotions.
Awareness of one’s morality/righteousness
The understanding that one is doing the right thing at any time.
Example: A bird that takes care of its family, assuming that they understand righteousness of their actions.
Leisure
An amount of leisure that a perfectly informed individual chooses.
Example: A rat that plays a specific amount of time, assuming that they are aware of alternatives.
Could you say more about your motivation for wanting to coming up with this list?
It is one of the utopia lists. This one seeks to include all individuals in the present (should be updated as values develop) and consider intuitive understanding of alternatives. There can be ways to achieve these values for everyone (for example, by advancing an overall supportive environment where individuals contribute to a great atmosphere). This can be more enjoyable than, for example, an environment that preserves dystopias for many individuals in the present and values the reflection of traditional institutional norms, such as wealth increase or peak fun. Since persons in these institutions may have limited intuitive understanding of alternatives, one can offer a list for contemplation. Then, fundamentally positive values can be sought and overall favorable systems developed?