Lightwave comments on What makes us think _any_ of our terminal values aren't based on a misunderstanding of reality? - Less Wrong

17 Post author: bokov 25 September 2013 11:09PM

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Comment author: Lightwave 30 September 2013 07:28:01AM 0 points [-]

to value breadth of perspective and flexibility of viewpoint significantly more than internal consistency

As humans we can't change/modify ourselves too much anyway, but what about if we're able to in the future? If you can pick and choose your values? It seems to me that, for such entity, not valuing consistency is like not valuing logic. And then there's the argument that it leaves you open for dutch booking / blackmail.

Comment author: TheOtherDave 30 September 2013 01:48:13PM 0 points [-]

Yes, inconsistency leaves me open for dutch booking, which perfect consistency would not. Eliminating that susceptibility is not high on my list of self-improvements to work on, but I agree that it's a failing.

Also, perceived inconsistency runs the risk of making me seen as unreliable, which has social costs. That said, being seen as reliable appears to be a fairly viable Schelling point among my various perspectives (as you say, the range is pretty small, globally speaking), so it's not too much of a problem.

In a hypothetical future where the technology exists to radically alter my values relatively easily, I probably would not care nearly so much about flexibility of viewpoint as an intrinsic skill, much in the same way that electronic calculators made the ability to do logarithms in my head relatively valueless.