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aelephant comments on The Mere Cable Channel Addition Paradox - Less Wrong Discussion

64 Post author: Ghatanathoah 26 July 2012 07:20AM

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Tags: morality ethics utilitarianism

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Comment author: aelephant 28 July 2012 04:35:10AM 1 point [-]

But let's say you meet this person in college and you can tell how the rest of their life is going to go. Would you encourage them to commit suicide, thereby reaping a moral surplus?

One problem I see is that there is no way to tell. You may have an idea, but there is no way to know with 100% certainty that they won't turn things around and lead a net happy life down the line.

Comment author: aelephant 29 July 2012 12:49:42AM *  0 points [-]

I'm not sure why I am getting voted down for the above comment. Is it because I am being perceived as "attacking the hypothetical"? In this case, maybe I just interpreted JohnMaxwellIV's comment differently. By "you can tell" does that mean that we have perfect knowledge of the entirety of the future of that person's life? Even if this were true, we are also an agent that can influence that future. I would prefer to act to alter the future (i.e. make that person happier) than to act to motivate them to commit suicide. Maybe I'm just weird in that I'd rather make people happy than make them dead.

Comment author: magfrump 29 July 2012 01:55:40PM 2 points [-]

I didn't downvote, but to me it feels like attacking the hypothetical; that would be my guess.

Obviously in real life most people (certainly, I think, most LWers) are VERY VERY HIGH above the "zero line" or whatever, so these sorts of questions feel pretty abstract to me.

Comment author: John_Maxwell_IV 18 August 2012 07:02:16AM 1 point [-]

Obviously in real life most people (certainly, I think, most LWers) are VERY VERY HIGH above the "zero line" or whatever, so these sorts of questions feel pretty abstract to me.

I don't think that's obvious. Something like 1/5 of LW is depressed.

I suspect commuting is below the zero line, i.e. people would fast-forward through their commutes even if it meant never getting those hours back.

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