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Culture War Roundup for the week of March 6, 2023

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Some stupid grad school, You aren't going to be actually worse off because of it

Huh? So an "integrity" is real, but the whole of your future career - which isn't just something that gets you money, but is most of your concrete impact on the lives of others - "who the fuck cares"? If you (competent) don't get into med school but cheater (incompetent) does, isn't that bad? That's just plainly false. Even for grad school specifically, some opportunities that are both useful to you and to society are gated by it. Lying might be bad not because "you can control it" (??), but because it harms the people you lie to, and the success of projects you and they are invested in (such as 'doctors being competent' or 'efficient administration of justice'). This is a common idea, but it's really not coherent.

It's perfectly coherent. Don't confuse "I disagree with it" for "it's not coherent". If you don't value moral actions for their own sake, or don't value them higher than material things, that's fine. But I do, and that is the whole crux of the thing. There's nothing incoherent about having a position that follows from fundamental values you disagree with.