JGWeissman comments on Open Thread: August 2009 - Less Wrong

5 Post author: taw 01 August 2009 03:06PM

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Comment author: Yvain 04 August 2009 07:24:03PM *  0 points [-]

Due to an unfortunate accident with a particle accelerator, you are transformed into a mid-level deity and the rest of the human race is wiped out. Experimenting with your divinity, you find you have impressive though limited levels of control over the world, but not enough finesse or knowledge to rewire the minds of intelligent creatures or create new ones.

With humanity gone, you discover that the only intelligent race left in the universe is the Pebble Sorters.

Do you use your newfound powers to feed starving Pebblesorters, free their slaves, slay their tyrants, heal their sick, preserve their places of natural beauty, protect their rights, and end their wars? Or do you use it to build lots and lots of heaps of prime-numbered heaps of pebbles?

Which course of action do you think would be more moral?

Comment author: JGWeissman 04 August 2009 09:15:24PM 2 points [-]

I would help them deconstruct their notion of the "right" size of a heap in terms of prime numbers, and then I would do all that other nice stuff for them, while leaving them to build the heaps of pebbles themselves, since they seem to enjoy it so much.