MichaelVassar comments on Anticipation vs. Faith: At What Cost Rationality? - Less Wrong

8 Post author: Wei_Dai 13 October 2009 12:10AM

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Comment author: Jonii 13 October 2009 12:59:46AM *  5 points [-]

One such thing could be a conscious mind. You want to be rational and efficient, and you're offered a deal by a local neurosurgeon to reprogram your brain so that you become the perfect Bayesian that does everything to further your values. No acrasia, no bias blind spots, no hindrance at all. Only downside in the transformation process is that something that enables our conscious experiences(let it be something like self-reflection, or conflicts within the system) is lost. Wanna do it?

I'm well aware that people here might disagree if this would be possible even in principle, but as far as I know, it could be, so this could then work as an example of a huge sacrifice made for furthering rationality.

Edit: Also, it would seem to me that "eliminating anticipation" is a case of explaining away.

Comment author: MichaelVassar 16 October 2009 09:48:22PM 4 points [-]

Not happily, but I won't be unhappy about it for long, so sure. I'm pretty sure that one such person is all the world would need, and, you know that epigram about 'what profit a man'? Well, it profit his utility function a lot.