Why would you side with the conscious mind? Do you have a specific reason for this, besides "because it's the one that holds the power" (which is perfectly acceptable, just not what I'd do in this case)?

I am not siding with it, I am it. When it holds the power, there is nothing besides it to communicate with you in this dialog.

As a data point, I personally reject it. Regardless of whether wireheading is actually a good idea, I don't care about staying in control. I also don't see my conscious mind as being particularly involved in decision making or value considerations (except as a guiding force on an instrumental level) and I see no reason to change that.

Good point. The choice of words unconscious/conscious was probably not the best one. Not all parts of the latter process feel conscious, and the former can be involved in conscious activities, e.g. use of language. I should have rather said short term or long term, or have stuck with the standard near/far, although I am not sure whether the meanings precisely overlap.

Buddhism, experiences with drugs, meditations: That may be the core reason for disagreement. Not only experiences can change preferences - inferential gap of sorts, but not one likely to be overcome by rational argument - but reactions to specific experiences differ. Some people hate certain drugs after the first use, others love them.

Buddhism, as far as I know, is certainly a powerful philosophy whose values and practices (meditation, introspection, nirvana) are more compatible with wireheading than most of the western tradition. It is also very alien to me.