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Manfred comments on Making Beliefs Pay Rent (in Anticipated Experiences) - Less Wrong
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But why do beliefs need to pay rent in anticipated experiences? Why can’t they pay rent in utility?
If some average Joe believes he’s smart and beautiful, and that gives him utility, is that necessarily a bad thing? Joe approaches a girl in a bar, dips his sweaty fingers in her iced drink, cracks a piece of ice in his teeth, pulls it out of his mouth, shoves it in her face for demonstration, and says, “Now that I’d broken the ice—”
She thinks: “What a butt-ugly idiot!” and gets the hell away from him.
Joe goes on happily believing that he’s smart and beautiful.
For myself, the answer is obvious: my beliefs are means to an end, not ends in themselves. They’re utility producers only insofar as they help me accomplish utility-producing operations. If I were to buy stock believing that its price would go up, I better hope my belief paid its rent in correct anticipation, or else it goes out the door.
But for Joe? If he has utility-pumping beliefs, then why not? It’s not like he would get any smarter or prettier by figuring out he’s been a butt-ugly idiot this whole time.
The trouble is that this rationale leads directly to wireheading at the first chance you get - choosing to become a brain in a vat with your reward centers constantly stimulated. Many people don't want that, so those people should make their beliefs only a means to an end.
However, there are some people who would be fine with wireheading themselves, and those people will be totally unswayed by this sort of argument. If Joe is one of them... yeah, sure, a sufficiently pleasant belief is better than facing reality. In this particular case, I might still recommend that Joe face the facts, since admitting that you have a problem is the first step. If he shapes up enough, he might even get married and live happily ever after.