Periklis Akritidis writes:
> QTI apparently implies a very efficient machine to compute the solution
> to any well defined problem. Suppose you want to factor a large number.
> The machine simply generates some random numbers using thermal noise,
> computes their product, compares it with the number to factor, and in
> case they do not match triggers a gun pointing to your head.
>
> Every time you use the machine, you would find yourself experiencing a
> universe where the machine either gave you the right answer or you
> miraculously escaped death, perhaps with injuries. It may take some
> tuning to make the machine robustly lethal so you can get the right
> answer most of the time and avoid injuries.
>
> This doesn't just give you immortality, but it also solves your
> financial problems so you don't have to speculate on financial planning.
Yet another QTI money-making scheme, this one rather less frightening
than standard QS: you find a gambling game which is completely fair (easier
said than done) and take with you the means of instant death, like a strong
poison which you keep in your pocket. You place your bet all the while repeating,
"if I lose I'll kill myself". You're not crazy and you probably won't kill yourself if
you lose, but if it's a perfectly fair game, the non-zero chance that you *might*
kill yourself (because you say it to yourself and because you have the means)
should, over many bets, swing the odds in your favour in the universes in which
you survive.
Stathis Papaioannou
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Received on Fri Sep 15 2006 - 09:07:22 PDT