Stathis Papaioannou wrote:
> OK, but I am looking at it from the perspective of going into the replicator.
> Suppose you were offered either the above choice - you are duplicated and
> one of the copies will be tortured - or a biased coin will be tosed and you
> will have a 51% chance of being tortured and a 49% chance of being spared.
> From a selfish perspective, it would be best to go for the duplication, because
> since you can only experience being one person at a time, you can expect to
> come out of the duplicator with a 50% chance of being tortured as opposed
> to the 51% chance in the case of the coin toss.
>
>From a selfish perspective with the understanding of observer moments
one should seek a course of action that would decrease the total
measure of negative observer moments (torture), while increasing
positive ones. Which course of action to take in this example is less
clear, is the duplicate allowed to lead a productive and happy life
after the torture or is it to be tortured for the rest of its life?
Also, how happy of a life does the spared duplicate go on to
experience?
In the case of duplication, the measure of observer moments which
experience torture is the same measure you have prior to entering the
replicator. While with the biased coin flip the measure of observer
moment being tortured is 51% your original measure. If your selfish
goal was to limit negative observer moments by any means (without
regard to positive ones), the best decision is to take the coin flip.
The right course of action in my mind would depend on whether or not
the life of the spared duplicate has enough positive moments to make up
for the torture, if not, then the best course of action would be to go
with the coin flip. The amount by which the spared life would have to
make up for the tortured life increases with the bias of the coin. At
least this is how I see things.
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Received on Mon Jan 22 2007 - 11:49:04 PST