Making the assumption that since #2 comes with 'No strings attached' it is implying safety measures such as 'The answer does not involve the delivery of a star sized super computer that kills you with it's gravity well' since that feels like a string, and #1 does not have such safety measures (implying you have infinite utility because you have been turned into a paperclipper in simulated paperclippium is an interpretation), I find myself trying to ponder ways of getting the idealized results of #1 with the safety measures of #2, such as
"If you were willing to answer an unlimited number of questions, and I asked you all the questions I could think of, What are all question answer pairs where I would consider any set of those question answer pairs a net gain in utility, answered in order from highest net gain of utility to smallest net gain of utility?"
Keeping in mind that the questions such as the below would be part of the hilariously meta above question:
"Exactly, in full detail without compression and to the full extent of time, what would all of my current and potentially new senses experience like if I took the simulation in Option 1?"
It was simply an idea that I found interesting that I wanted to put into writing. Thank you for reading.
This was an interesting idea to read! (Even if I don't think my interpretation was what you had in mind.) Thank you for writing!
What are all question answer pairs where I would consider any set of those question answer pairs a net gain in utility, answered in order from highest net gain of utility to smallest net gain of utility?"
Having the answers to some questions can change the utility of the answers to the other ones, so "in order from highest gain of utility" may not make sense. You'd have tio ask something like "in an order which maximizes front-load utility compared to other orders", comparing the orders by the utility of the Nth place question rather than comparing the utility resulting from the questions.
According to Eliezer, there are two types of rationality. There is epistemic rationality, the process of updating your beliefs based on evidence to correspond to the truth (or reality) as closely as possible. And there is instrumental rationality, the process of making choices in order to maximize your future utility yield. These two slightly conflicting definitions work together most of the time as obtaining the truth is the rationalists' ultimate goal and thus yields the maximum utility. Are there ever times when the truth is not in a rationalist's best interest? Are there scenarios in which a rationalist should actively try to avoid the truth to maximize their possible utility? I have been mentally struggling with these questions for a while. Let me propose a scenario to illustrate the conundrum.
Suppose Omega, a supercomputer, comes down to Earth to offer you a choice. Option 1 is to live in a stimulated world where you have infinite utility (on this world there is no, pain, suffering, death, its basically a perfect world) and you are unaware you are living in a stimulation. Option 2 is Omega will answer one question on absolutely any subject truthfully pertaining to our universe with no strings attached. You can ask about the laws governing the universe, the meaning of life, the origin of time and space, whatever and Omega will give you a absolutely truthful, knowledgeable answer. Now, assuming all of these hypotheticals are true, which option would you pick? Which option should a perfect rationalist pick? Does the potential of asking a question whose answer could greatly improve humanity's knowledge of our universe outweigh the benefits of living in a perfect simulated world with unlimited utility? There is probably a lot of people who would object outright to living in a simulation because it's not reality or the truth. Well lets consider the simulation in my hypothetical conundrum for a second. It's a perfect reality and has unlimited utility potential, and you are completely unaware you are in a simulation on this world. Aside from the unlimited utility part, that sounds a lot like our reality. There are no signs of our reality of being a simulation and all (most) of humanity is convinced that our reality is not a simulation. There for, the only difference that really matters between the simulation in Option 1 and our reality is the unlimited utility potential that Option 1 offers. If there is no evidence that a simulation is not reality then the simulation is reality for the people inside the simulation. That is what I believe and that is why I would choose Option 1. The infinite utility of living in a perfect reality outweighs almost any utility amount increase I could contribute to humanity.
I am very interested in which option the less wrong community would choose (I know Option 2 is kind of arbitrary I just needed an option for people who wouldn't want to live in a simulation). As this is my first post, any feedback or criticism is appreciated. Also many more information on the topic of truth vs utility would be very helpful. Feel free to down vote me to oblivion if this post was stupid, didn't make sense, etc. It was simply an idea that I found interesting that I wanted to put into writing. Thank you for reading.