Kevin comments on Open Thread: May 2010, Part 2 - Less Wrong

3 Post author: Kevin 20 May 2010 07:30PM

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Comment author: Kevin 27 May 2010 08:07:03AM 1 point [-]

In the enemy base scenario, I would rather have a paperclip made out of military grade composite, which can have an arbitrary % of metal by mass, from 0% metal to >50% metal.

Do you not value paperclips made out of supermaterials more than metal paperclips?

Comment author: Clippy 27 May 2010 04:10:27PM 1 point [-]

Non-metal paperclips aren't.

If you want to talk about making paperclip makers out of non-metals, you have a point.

If you want to claim that reasonable Clippys can disagree (before knowledge/value reconciliation) about how much metal content a paperclip can have before it's bad, you have a point.

But in any case, composites must be constructed in their finished form. A fully-formed, fully-committed "block of composite", where no demand for such a block exists, and certainly not at any good price, should be just as useless to you.

Comment author: Kevin 28 May 2010 10:21:06PM 0 points [-]

Are not some paperclips better than others? I (and you) would both get a lot more utility out of a paperclip made out of computronium than a paperclip made out of aluminum.