Should I rate this as 15% fatal with the safety gear or is there some other way that this should be evaluated?
What value does your utility function place on having no experiences, versus having the experiences a brain-damaged person has? This definitely depends on the type and severity of brain damage.
That's the only real question - utilitarian decision making takes care of the rest.
That's the only real question - utilitarian decision making takes care of the rest.
This doesn't seem like a very charitable response, akin to replying "just do what you want". He's trying to figure out what he wants, and is asking for help in figuring this out.
I was reading about the effectiveness of bicycle helmet laws (here) and wondered how worthwhile it is to save your life at the expense of some aspect key to your current identity (Note that the paper linked doesn't say that this is the situation; this was just a tangential thought).
Let's say that I perform some activity that carries a 10% chance that I will die but otherwise carries no risk of injury. There is some piece of safety gear that I can wear that cuts that risk in half, but for some reason adds a 10% chance that I will be permanently brain damaged such that I will not be "me" as I understand it now. Should I rate this as 15% fatal with the safety gear or is there some other way that this should be evaluated?