timtyler comments on Against Discount Rates - Less Wrong
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No. What I actually said was:
I do think an unbounded human-equivalent utility function is not supported by any evidence. I reckon Hutter's [0,1] utility would be able to simulate humans just fine on digital hardware.
I didn't say that you equated utility with dopamine. [edit: I was replying to an earlier draft of your comment. As of now you've changed the comment to delete the claim that I had said that you equated utility with dopamine, though you retained an unexplained "no".] I said that you said that dopamine is part of how utility is represented. Your quote appears to confirm my statement. You quote yourself saying "[Dopamine levels and endorphin levels] are part of the brain's representation of expected utility - and utility." Among other things, this says that dopamine is part of the brain's representation of utility. Which is virtually word for word what I said you said, the main difference being that instead of saying "the brain's representation of utility", I said, "how utility is represented". I don't see any real difference here - just slightly different wording.
Moreover, the key statement that I am basing my interpretation on is not that, but this:
Here you are arguing that the human brain's equivalent to a utility function is bounded, and your apparent argument for this is that dopamine and endorphin levels are limited.
I argued that the limitation of dopamine and endorphin levels does not imply that the human brain's equivalent to a utility function is bounded. You have not addressed my argument, only claimed - incorrectly, it would appear - that I had misstated your argument.
I note that your characterisation of my argument models very, very poorly all the times I talked about the finite nature of the human brain on this thread.
You are seriously referring me to your entire oeuvre as a supposed explanation of what you meant in the specific comment that I was replying to?
I was pointing out that there was more to the arguments I have given than what you said. The statement you used to characterise my position was a false syllogism - but it doesn't represent my thinking on the topic very well.