Sniffnoy comments on Open Thread: March 2010, part 3 - Less Wrong

3 Post author: RobinZ 19 March 2010 03:14AM

You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.

Comments (254)

You are viewing a single comment's thread. Show more comments above.

Comment author: Alicorn 22 March 2010 07:52:16AM 3 points [-]

Why am I firmly committed to realizing the future the machine shows? Do I believe that to be contrary would cause a paradox and explode the universe? Do I believe that I am destined to achieve whatever is foretold, and that it'll be more pleasant if I do it on purpose instead of forcing fate to jury-rig something at the last minute? Do I think that it is only good and right that I do those things which are depicted, because it shows the locally best of all possible worlds?

In other words, what do I hypothetically think would happen if I weren't fully committed to realizing the future shown?

Comment author: Sniffnoy 22 March 2010 08:53:47AM 1 point [-]

Agree with the question of why you would be doing this; sounds like optimizing on the wrong thing. Supposing that it showed me having won the lottery and having a cow in my workshop, it seems silly to suppose that bringing a cow into my workshop will help me win the lottery. We can't very well suppose that we were always wanting to have a cow in our workshop, else the vision of the future wouldn't affect anything.