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aelephant comments on Is a paperclipper better than nothing? - Less Wrong Discussion
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Have utility to whom?
I presume when we are all dead, we will have no utility functions.
:) Usually, I'm the one who has to point this idea out when such discussions come up.
But to answer your question - it would be the you-of-the-present who is making a judgement call about which future scenario present-you values more. While it's true that there won't be a future-you within either future with which to experience said future, that doesn't mean present-you can't prefer one outcome to the other.
Because present-me knows that I won't be around to experience either future, present-me doesn't care either way. I'd flip a coin if I had to decide.
Which is why, naturally, you wouldn't sacrifice your life to save the world.
Little different than the proposed situation. There would be plenty of other people with utility functions surviving if I sacrificed myself to save the world.
Does entropy in an isolated system decrease in either universe? Present-me considers the indistinguishable end states equivalent.
I know this doesn’t sound quite consequentialistic enough for some around here, but sometimes the journey matters too, not just the destination ;-)
And when the destination is guaranteed to be the same...