= 27d567bc2d48d9f40e9ccc20ea370b15)
Xodarap comments on A Pure Math Argument for Total Utilitarianism - Less Wrong Discussion
You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.
= 783df68a0f980790206b9ea87794c5b6)
Loading…= b715d02e85f7b3b4ae65ca3d3e450868)
Subscribe to RSS Feed
Powered by Reddit
= f037147d6e6c911a85753b9abdedda8d)
You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.
Comments (36)
If you change the value of "medium" from "1" to "-5" while leaving the other two states the same, your conclusion no longer holds. For example, on your last graph, (very good, medium) would outrank (very good), even though the former has a value of -2 and the latter of +3. This suggests your system doesn't allow negative utilities, which seems bad because intuitively it's possible for utility to sometimes be negative (eg euthanasia arguments).
This is a good point - I am now regretting not having given more technical details on what it means to be "order preserving".
The requirement is that
X > 0 ==> X + Y > Y. I've generated the graph under the assumption thatMedium > 0, which results in (very good, medium) > (very good). Clearly the antecedent doesn't hold ifMedium < 0, in which case the graph would go the other direction, as you point out.