AlexMennen comments on Humans are utility monsters - Less Wrong

67 Post author: PhilGoetz 16 August 2013 09:05PM

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Comment author: Jiro 16 August 2013 09:48:31PM *  2 points [-]

Saying that a utility monster means a "creature that is somehow more capable of experiencing pleasure (or positive utility) than all others combined" is vague, because it doesn't mean a creature that's just more capable, it's a creature that's a specific kind of "more capable". Just because human beings can experience more utility from the same actions than nematodes can doesn't make humans into utility monsters, because that's the wrong kind of "more capable". According to your own link, a utility monster is not susceptible to diminishing marginal returns, which doesn't seem to describe humans and certainly isn't a distinction between humans and nematodes.

Comment author: AlexMennen 19 August 2013 09:23:47PM 3 points [-]

Wikipedia does not cite a source for its claim that utility monsters have anything to do with non-decreasing marginal utility, nor does the claim make any sense at all. Does anyone know if some wikipedian just made this up, or whether it was published somewhere previously? I've also asked about this on the wikipedia article's talk page. If no one can find any prior source for the statement, I will edit it.