I'm not talking about certainty; disproving solipsism is impossible, after all.
I'm talking about likelihood.
Any given organism is either sentient or not.
Why should I have any inclination to believe strongly one way or the other as to whether a given organism is sentient?
Why shouldn't I just remain entirely agnostic as to whether anyone is sentient or not?
If I'm 50/50 on whether or not others are sentient, then I will still treat others with kindness as though they are sentient, because there is a chance that they might in fact be sentient.
So it's not like being 50/50 on the matter would turn me into a horrible person as far as the consequences of my beliefs are concerned.
And it's not like any of that matters in the first place; a belief having bad consequences does not imply the belief is in disagreement with reality.
Why is it more rational to believe that other people are sentient rather than have no belief one way or the other?
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Re: Why is it more rational to believe that other people are sentient rather than have no belief one way or the other?
It is better to act on the apparent sentience, instead of assuming the evidence of it is deceptive.