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TimS comments on Stupid Questions Open Thread Round 3 - Less Wrong Discussion

8 Post author: OpenThreadGuy 07 July 2012 05:16PM

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Comment author: TimS 09 July 2012 01:13:16PM 4 points [-]

Doesn't the paper cited here on acausal romance imply that gains from acausal trade are incoherent?

The fact that I can imagine someone who can imagine exactly me doesn't seem like it implies that I can make material gains by acting in reference to that inaccessible other.

What am I misunderstanding?

Comment author: Xachariah 11 July 2012 09:05:58AM 2 points [-]

That's the joke. The whole paper is a "Modest Proposal" style satire.

It's designed to tear down modal realism by taking it to the most absurd extreme. I also detected hints of playing on the Ontological Argument for the existence of God.

Comment author: TimS 12 July 2012 03:41:57AM 0 points [-]

Thanks for that explanation of the paper. Is acausal trade supposed to rely on modal realism, or are they distinct?