Bongo comments on A Thought Experiment on Pain as a Moral Disvalue - Less Wrong

18 Post author: Wei_Dai 11 March 2011 07:56AM

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Comment author: Bongo 12 March 2011 04:46:40AM *  0 points [-]

Note that you're saying that not only is the thwarting of someone's plans a disvalue, having them contemplate the thwarting is an additional disvalue.

Also, since being tortured makes contemplation harder, you should prefer torturing someone for six hours and them killing them to letting them contemplate their imminent death in comfort for six hours and then killing them.

Comment author: Morendil 12 March 2011 09:01:14AM 0 points [-]

you should prefer torturing someone for six hours and them killing them to letting them contemplate their imminent death in comfort for six hours and then killing them

When you're being tortured you have no choice but to attend to the pain: you are not cognitively free to contemplate anything other than your own destruction. In comfort you could at least aim for a more pleasant state of mind - you can make your own plans for those six hours instead of following the torturer's, and if you have the strength, refuse to contemplate your own death.