Leon comments on Decision Theory FAQ - Less Wrong

52 Post author: lukeprog 28 February 2013 02:15PM

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Comment author: Leon 28 February 2013 02:05:28PM 5 points [-]

What about mentioning the St. Petersburg paradox? This is a pretty striking issue for EUM, IMHO.

Comment author: ygert 28 February 2013 05:44:53PM 0 points [-]

The St Petersburg paradox actually sounds to me a lot like Pascal's Mugging. That is, you are offered a very small chance at a very large amount of utility, (or in the case of Pascal Mugging, of not loosing a large amount of utility), with a very high expected value if you accept the deal, but because the deal has such a low chance of paying out, a smart person will turn it down, despite that having less expected value than accepting.

Comment author: lukeprog 07 March 2013 12:51:53AM 0 points [-]

Added. See here.

Comment author: Leon 19 March 2013 07:16:01AM 0 points [-]

Thanks Luke.

Comment author: Dan_Moore 28 February 2013 10:36:05PM 0 points [-]

I concur. Plus, the St. Petersburg paradox was the impetus for Daniel Bernoulli's invention of the concept of utility.