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Viliam comments on Open thread, Jul. 18 - Jul. 24, 2016 - Less Wrong Discussion

3 Post author: MrMind 18 July 2016 07:17AM

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Comment author: Douglas_Knight 19 July 2016 09:59:18PM 1 point [-]

Are any types of non-exponential discounting time-consistent?

No.

Why do people focus on hyperbolic and exponential? Aren't there other options?

I don't think people really mean anything very specific by "hyperbolic discounting." They are just considering a 3 period model and saying that anything other than exponential is inconsistent. The qualitative form of hyperbolic discounting---of falling rapidly at first, and then slowly---empirically matches human psychology, but I don't think people care very much about precisely what inconsistent preferences humans express.

Comment author: Viliam 21 July 2016 07:55:50AM 1 point [-]

Yeah, this is what I suspect, too. "Hyperbolic" is just a metaphor, a simple example of a curve that has the required properties. There is probably no hyperbolometer in the emotional center of the human brain.