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passive_fist comments on Lotteries & MWI - Less Wrong Discussion
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I'll rephrase my question. Why do you want to make things better for one of 'you' at the expense of making them worse for many of 'you'?
I thought my answer answered even your rephrased question; I'll try again.
Random events happen in all lives. Some cannot be survived with X resources, but can be survived with Y resources. If you're already above Y, and the cost of a lottery ticket is low enough that it won't bring you below Y, then you'll survive anyway, and buying a lottery ticket won't significantly harm you. However, if you're already below X, and a lottery win will bring some of you above Y, then buying a lottery ticket still won't significantly harm you (as you're going to die anyway), but that fraction of you who are boosted above Y will survive when they otherwise wouldn't have.
Put another way: having some of me alive is better than having all of me dead.
I guess I was looking at this with the wrong frame of mind. I don't think quantum immortality is possible, hence my question. I wasn't even taking it into consideration. But if you believe in quantum immortality, I can see how playing the lottery might be beneficial.