Larks comments on Transparency and Accountability - Less Wrong

16 Post author: multifoliaterose 21 August 2010 01:01PM

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Comment author: Larks 21 August 2010 09:24:50PM *  3 points [-]

Appart from the issue JGWeissman brings up, even if you supposed that the lives saved all occurred 300 years in the future, a reasonable discount rate would still only give you a couple of orders of magnitude.

For example, 1.05^300 = 2.3 * 10^6

Which is nowhere near enough.

Edit: there are discount rates that would give you the result you want, but it still seems pritty plausible that, assuming Astronomical Waste, SIAI isn't a bad bet.

Comment author: Perplexed 22 August 2010 01:19:23AM 3 points [-]

even if you supposed that the lives saved all occurred 300 years in the future, a reasonable discount rate would still only give you a couple of orders of magnitude.

Sounds about right to me.

For example, 1.05^300 = 2.3 * 10^6

Huh? You think 6 is "a couple"? I wish I had your sex life!

But 5% per annum is far too high. It discounts the next generation to only a quarter of the current generation. Way too steep.

Which is nowhere near enough.

Double huh? And huh? some more. You wrote:

a yearly donation of $1 saves an expected 10^18 lives

You imagine (conservatively) that there are a potential 10^18 lives to save 300 years into the future? Boy, I really wish I had your sex life.

Comment author: CarlShulman 22 August 2010 06:10:32AM 1 point [-]

If people 300 years from now are whole brain emulations or AIs, then they could reproduce like software with high population densities.

Comment author: timtyler 22 August 2010 06:33:39AM *  0 points [-]

Alternatively, if the human-size brains were all sucked into the matrix long ago, there may well be about 1 person per-planet.