randallsquared comments on Contests vs. Real World Problems - Less Wrong

15 Post author: badger 25 March 2009 01:29AM

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Comment author: James_Miller 25 March 2009 02:21:45PM 11 points [-]

Rather than just gambling with money, people could gamble with their lives. A global warming denier, for example, could announce that he is so sure that the earth will not be significantly warmer in ten years than it is today that if he is wrong about this he will kill himself. A legal system that enforced such a promise would, clearly, make it possible for someone to very credibly communicate the sincerity of his beliefs.

Comment author: randallsquared 25 March 2009 09:09:09PM 4 points [-]

A "global warming denier" doesn't necessarily believe the world is not getting warmer, or that it will certainly get colder. Just FYI.