Sebastian_Hagen2 comments on Torture vs. Dust Specks - Less Wrong

39 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 30 October 2007 02:50AM

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Comment author: Sebastian_Hagen2 30 October 2007 07:27:00PM 0 points [-]

For those who would pick TORTURE, what about Vassar's universes of agonium? Say a googolplex-persons' worth of agonium for a googolplex years.

Torture, again. From the perspective of each affected individual, the choice becomes:

1.) A (10**(10**100))/(3^^^3) chance of being tortured for (10**(10**100)) years.
2.) A 1 chance of a dust speck.
(or very slightly different numbers if the (10**(10**100)) people exist in addition to the 3^^^3 people; the difference is too small to be noticable)

I'd still take the former. (10**(10**100))/(3^^^3) is still so close to zero that there's no way I can tell the difference without getting a larger universe for storing my memory first.