CellBioGuy comments on I have just donated $10,000 to the Immortality Bus, which was the most rational decision of my life - Less Wrong

0 Post author: turchin 18 July 2015 01:13PM

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Comment author: CellBioGuy 19 July 2015 08:20:45AM *  0 points [-]

That would still make him more likely than if we were picking a president at random from the adult population. I think that's untrue.

Comment author: David_Bolin 19 July 2015 01:04:26PM 10 points [-]

You can pretty easily think of "apocalyptic" scenarios in which Zoltan would end up getting elected in a fairly normal way. Picking a president at random from the adult population would require even more improbable events.

Comment author: jacob_cannell 22 July 2015 03:42:12AM 0 points [-]

I loved this comment, but then realized I may not have understood it - is the apocalyptic scenario one where a bunch of people die, but somehow those remaining tend to be Zoltan supporters?

Comment author: David_Bolin 22 July 2015 04:46:00AM 2 points [-]

I actually meant it more generally, in the sense of highly unusual situations. So gjm's suggested path would count.

But more straightforwardly apocalyptic situations could also work. So a whole bunch of people die, then those remaining become concerned about existential risk -- given what just happened -- and this leads to people becoming convinced Zoltan would be a good idea. This is more likely than a virus that kills non-Zoltan supporters.

Comment author: [deleted] 19 July 2015 10:31:57PM 8 points [-]

I think it's unlikely that someone actively campaigning to be president is less likely than someone who isn't.