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hyporational comments on Crazy Ideas Thread - Less Wrong Discussion

22 Post author: Gunnar_Zarncke 07 July 2015 09:40PM

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Comment author: hyporational 20 July 2015 11:49:01AM *  -1 points [-]

Our stated preferences are predictably limited and often untrue accounts what actually constitutes our well-being and our utility to those around us. I'm not sure I want to wake up to a god psychologically incompetent enough to revive people based on weighing wishes greatly. If there are resource constraints which I highly doubt it's especially important to make decisions based on reliable data.

When I say something like "if it were free and you knew it would work would you sign up?" some people have said "no", or even "of course not."

I think this much more likely reflects the dynamics of the discussion, the perceived unlikelihood of the hypothetical and the badness of death than actual preferences. If the hypothetical is improbable enough, changing your mind only has the cost of losing social status and whatever comforting lies you have learned to keep death off your mind and not much upside to talk about.

Comment author: ChristianKl 20 July 2015 11:59:41AM 2 points [-]

Consent seems to be an important ethical principle for many people and an FAI might well end up implementing it in some form.

Comment author: hyporational 20 July 2015 12:16:19PM *  0 points [-]

True. Since people are so irrational, not to mention inconsistent and slow, it might be one of the most difficult problems of FAI. The whole concept of consent in the presence of a much more powerful mind seems pretty shaky.