Viliam_Bur comments on Decision Theory: Value in Time - Less Wrong

2 Post author: Lu93 27 July 2014 10:01AM

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Comment author: Viliam_Bur 27 July 2014 03:41:53PM *  3 points [-]

The topic is interesting, but I hope you will write something non-trivial. Sorry for unspecific advice, but this is how it is. I guess I could be more specific about what I consider trivial. Something like this:

"There is uncertainty, therefore $100 one year later is only worth r × $100 now, where r is the discount rate, a number between 0 and 1. Two years later, it's r^2 × $100, etc. Similarly, a cake one year later is worth r cakes now. If we make an infinite sum 1 + r + r^2 + ..., the result is finite, therefore immortality doesn't have infinite value." -- This alone probably wouldn't provide any value to most readers.

If you can say more than this, I'd like to hear it. Also, please don't split it to multiple articles; and if you really have to, then please put something interesting in the first article already, don't make it merely a teaser.

Comment author: Lu93 27 July 2014 04:01:45PM 1 point [-]

Well, I do have to start there, but, actually, i wanted to go different way. I will argue that immortality has different value given the different information and preferences we have.

(Because, it's not 1 + r + r^2... it's v(0) + v(1) r + v(2) r^2 +.... where vx is value we obtain in x-th year of our life. This can converge or diverge, it is dependent on our evaluation of v's and ofc. r.)

Also, please don't split it to multiple articles; and if you really have to, then please put something interesting in the first article already, don't make it merely a teaser.

Thank you for advice, I will give my best to make it short and interesting. Though not at cost of making it unclear and therefore useless.

Comment author: [deleted] 28 July 2014 03:43:20PM 0 points [-]

We do not have constant utility functions, so infinite limits with respect to time are not actually that interesting.