Rolf Nelson wrote:
> 1. Provides a possible explanation for the "Measure Problem" of why we
> shouldn't be "extremely surprised" to find we live in a lawful
> universe, rather than an extremely chaotic universe, or a homogeneous
> cloud of gas.
One thing I still don't understand, is in what sense exactly is the "Measure
Problem" a problem? Why isn't it good enough to say that everything exists,
therefore we (i.e. people living in a lawful universe) must exist, and
therefore we shouldn't be surprised that we exist. If the "Measure Problem"
is a problem, then why isn't there also an analogous "Lottery Problem" for
people who have won the lottery?
I admit that this "explanation" of why there is no problem doesn't seem
satisfactory, but I also haven't been able to satisfactorily verbalize what
is wrong with it.
> Of course, I could solve the problem by deciding that I'd rather be
> self-destructive and evil than be inconsistent; then I could consider
> adopting UD+ASSA as a philosophy. But I think I'll pass on that
> option. :-)
I think our positions are pretty close on this issue, except that I do
prefer to substitute 'counter-intuitive'. :-) The problem is, how can we be
so certain that our intuitions are correct?
> An example
> that Yudowsky gave: you might spend resources on constructing a unique
> arrow pointing at yourself, in order to increase your measure by
> making it easier for a search algorithm to find you.
While I no longer support UD+ASSA at this point (see my posts titled
"against UD+ASSA"), I'm not sure this particular example is especially
devastating. UD+ASSA perhaps implies an ethical theory in which all else
being equal, you would prefer that there was a unique, easy to find arrow
pointing at yourself. But it doesn't say that you should actually spend
resources constructing it, since those resources might be better used in
other ways, and it's not clear how much one's measure would actually be
increased by such an arrow.
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Received on Wed Oct 24 2007 - 21:26:19 PDT