ciphergoth comments on Firewalling the Optimal from the Rational - Less Wrong

86 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 08 October 2012 08:01AM

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Comment author: ciphergoth 10 October 2012 08:15:59PM 1 point [-]

Oh all sorts of things - I'm not a strong defender of freedom. I'll happily, say, prevent a drunk friend from doing something very dangerous. I don't mean that that's where all or even most terminal utility comes from - I just mean that it isn't literally zero, that there are at least some costs it's enough to outweigh. Assuming as you do that I somehow have certain knowledge, and supposing someone about to die wants to watch a terrible movie that won't make them happy, and I have the option of silently removing it from the list of options so that they end up with a better choice, there is still some value in them getting what they wanted.

Comment author: TheOtherDave 10 October 2012 08:47:46PM 1 point [-]

Fair enough.
For my own part, while there are all sorts of things that might lead me to endorse the watching of a movie that would make someone unhappy -- that is, there are values other than happiness -- and some of those values might be best achieved in practice by letting individuals choose, them getting what they wanted isn't in and of itself one of them.