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buybuydandavis 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.
I think you've hit on one of the conceptual weaknesses of many Rationalists. Beliefs can pay rent in many ways, but Rationalists tend to only value the predictive utility of beliefs, and pooh pooh other other utilities of belief. Comfort utility - it makes me feel good to believe it. Social utility - people will like me for believing it. Efficacy utility - I can be more effective if I believe it.
Predictive Truth is a means to value, and even if a value in itself, it's surely not the only value. Instead of pooh poohing other types of utility, to convince people you need to use that predictive utility to analyze how the other utilities can best be fulfilled.