Is the cat{girl,boy} scenario just a specific instantiation of the "permanent orgasm implant" problem?

Eliezer said:

'On the timescale of years, perseverance is to "keep working on an insanely difficult problem even though it's inconvenient and you could be getting higher personal rewards elsewhere".'

This is inconsistent with utility maximization assumptions. Elsewhere on O.B. it has been discussed that the pursuit of dreams can be a payoff in itself. We must notice that it is the expectation of highest personal rewards, not the rewards themselves, that drive our decision-making. Working on the seemingly very hard problems is rewarding because it is among the set of most rewarding activities available.

"You have to enter a special mode, the quotation mode, to talk about your beliefs. By default, we just talk about reality."

This is a false dichotomization. Everything is reality! Speaking of thoughts as if the "mental" is separate from the "physical" indicates implicit dualism.