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TheOtherDave 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.
Well, he might. Or, rather, there might be available ways of becoming smarter or prettier for which jettisoning his false beliefs is a necessary precondition.
But, admittedly, he might not.
Anyway, sure, if Joe "terminally" values his beliefs about the world, then he gets just as much utility out of operating within a VR simulation of his beliefs as out of operating in the world. Or more, if his beliefs turn out to be inconsistent with the world.
That said, I don't actually know anyone for whom this is true.
I don't know too many theist janitors, either. Doesn't mean they don't exist.
From my perspective, it sucks to be them. But once you're them, all you can do is minimize your misery by finding some local utility maximum and staying there.