There are many, many things in the similarly exploitative franchise known as "Real Life" that also appear to be crafted as "torture & horror porn". So I don't see the problem with linking to a fictionalized version.
I dare say that any story without elements that induce horror and revulsion in a reader would be an inadequate source of intuition for considering the most shocking aspects of our own world... or the ethics of knowingly creating a system which offers absolute security indiscriminately to those who would create such nightmares and those who'd seek to prevent them.
Example of a victim testimony 1: - trigger warnings for extreme child abuse, rape, pedophilia and psychological damage.
...Jura V jnf gjb lrnef byq zl zbgure zneevrq zl fgrcsngure. Jung sbyybjrq jnf fvkgrra lrnef bs frkhny nffnhyg...
Example of a victim testimony 2: - all of the above, except even more outspoken descriptions of the author's mental anguish. (NSFanywhere. The main blog has... images... that are more gore than extreme porn; don't look unless you're massively desensitized.)
...Gurfr cubgbf nyy rkcerff gur fvqr bs zlfrys V fgehttyr jvgu rirel qnl. Guvf vf gur fvqr bs zr gung yrnearq jung frk vf guebhtu encr. Guvf vf gur fvqr bs zr gung gevrq gb pbzzvg fhvpvqr sbe gur svefg gvzr jura V jnf frira lrnef byq. Guvf vf gur cneg bs zr gung V srne jvyy arire urny. Vgf orra fb znal lrnef ohg abg n qnl tbrf ol jurer V qba’g guvax nobhg jung jnf qbar gb zr...
...Nsgre lbh’ir orra encrq naq orngra jvguva na vapu bs lbhe yvsr rabhtu gvzrf, rirelguvat ryfr ybbfrf pbybe, gur jbeyq orpbzrf funqrf bs terl. Lbh orpbzr ahzo. V pna’g pel nalzber hayrff V’z orvat encrq. Abg sebz cnva, abg sebz fnqarff, abg sebz bavbaf, abg sebz nalguvat ryfr bgure guna fgehttyvat juvyr zl obql vf gbegherq naq hfrq. Yngryl V’ir orra nfxvat zl OQFZ cnegaref gb cynl-encr zr erthyneyl fb V pna pel. Vgf ernyyl dhvgr greevoyr npghnyyl; vg srryf yvxr V’z eryvivat gur uryy V penjyrq bhg bs nyy bire ntnva. Lrg V unir gb qb vg, whfg gb or noyr gb srry uhzna ntnva, gb srry nalguvat ntnva rabhtu gb pel...
Want some amnesiacs yet? You might be able to forget those stories faster if you don't think about the fact that something similar must be happening somewhere in your country, probably in your city, at this very moment. Oops, too late!
(Again, sorry for the confrontational tone and such - I wanted to hammer home the point that sometimes it's the violently emotional reaction to an objectively terrible problem that would be true to your desires, and trying to stay "detached" and "reasonable" would be self-deception. See: deathism.)
I struggle with conceiving wanting to want, or decision making in general, as a tiered model. There are a great many factors that modify the ordering and intensity of utility functions. When human neurons fire they trigger multiple concurrent paths leading to a set of utility functions. Not all of the utilities are logic-related.
I posit that our ability to process and reason is due to this pattern ability and any model that will approximate human intelligence will need to be more complex than a simple linear layer model. The balance of numerous interactiv...
In response to a request, I am going to do some basic unpacking of second-order desire, or "metawanting". Basically, a second-order desire or metawant is a desire about a first-order desire.
Example 1: Suppose I am very sleepy, but I want to be alert. My desire to be alert is first-order. Suppose also that there is a can of Mountain Dew handy. I know that Mountain Dew contains caffeine and that caffeine will make me alert. However, I also know that I hate Mountain Dew1. I do not want the Mountain Dew, because I know it is gross. But it would be very convenient for me if I liked Mountain Dew: then I could drink it, and I could get the useful effects of the caffeine, and satisfy my desire for alertness. So I have the following instrumental belief: wanting to drink that can of Mountain Dew would let me be alert. Generally, barring other considerations, I want things that would get me other things I want - I want a job because I want money, I want money because I can use it to buy chocolate, I want chocolate because I can use it to produce pleasant taste sensations, and I just plain want pleasant taste sensations. So, because alertness is something I want, and wanting Mountain Dew would let me get it, I want to want the Mountain Dew.
This example demonstrates a case of a second-order desire about a first-order desire that would be instrumentally useful. But it's also possible to have second-order desires about first-order desires that one simply does or doesn't care to have.
Example 2: Suppose Mimi the Heroin Addict, living up to her unfortunate name, is a heroin addict. Obviously, as a heroin addict, she spends a lot of her time wanting heroin. But this desire is upsetting to her. She wants not to want heroin, and may take actions to stop herself from wanting heroin, such as going through rehab.
One thing that is often said is that what first-order desires you "endorse" on the second level are the ones that are your most true self. This seems like an appealing notion in Mimi's case; I would not want to say that at her heart she just wants heroin and that's an intrinsic, important part of her. But it's not always the case that the second-order desire is the one we most want to identify with the person who has it:
Example 3: Suppose Larry the Closet Homosexual, goodness only knows why his mother would name him that, is a closet homosexual. He has been brought up to believe that homosexuality is gross and wrong. As such, his first-order desire to exchange sexual favors with his friend Ted the Next-Door Neighbor is repulsive to him when he notices it, and he wants desperately not to have this desire.
In this case, I think we're tempted to say that poor Larry is a gay guy who's had an alien second-order desire attached to him via his upbringing, not a natural homophobe whose first-order desires are insidiously eroding his real personality.
A less depressing example to round out the set:
Example 4: Suppose Olivia the Overcoming Bias Reader, whose very prescient mother predicted she would visit this site, is convinced on by Eliezer's arguments about one-boxing in Newcomb's Problem. However, she's pretty sure that if Omega really turned up, boxes in hand, she would want to take both of them. She thinks this reflects an irrationality of hers. She wants to want to one-box.
1Carbonated beverages make my mouth hurt. I have developed a more generalized aversion to them after repeatedly trying to develop a taste for them and experiencing pain every time.