RE: Torture yet again

From: Jonathan Colvin <jcolvin.domain.name.hidden>
Date: Wed, 22 Jun 2005 21:55:47 -0700

I (Jonathan Colvin) wrote:
> > > >When you press the button in the torture room, there is a
> > 50% chance
> > > >that your next moment will be in the same room and and a
> > 50% chance
> > > >that it will be somewhere else where you won't be
> > tortured. However,
> > > >this constraint has been added to the
> > > >experiment: suppose you end up the copy still in the
> torture room
> > > >whenever you press the button. After all, it is certain
> that there
> > > >will be a copy still in the room, however many times the
> button is
> > > >pressed. Should this unfortunate person choose the coin
> > toss instead?
> > >
> > >If he shares your beliefs about identity, then if he changes
> > his mind
> > >he will be be comitting the gambler's fallacy.
> > >
> > >However, after having pressed the button 100 times and with
> > nothing to
> > >show for it except 100 tortures, his faith that he is a
> > random observer
> > >might be shaken :).
> >
> > Yes, but do you agree it is the same for any probabilistic
> experiment
> > in a many worlds cosmology? If you sit down and toss a coin
> 100 times
> > in a row, there will definitely be one version of you who
> has obtained
> > 100 heads in a row, just as there will definitely be one version of
> > you (the one still in the torture room) who has nothing to
> show after
> > pushing the button 100 times.
>
> Yes, I agree. There are always going to be an unfortunate few.
>
> I think I know where this is going; if manyworlds is correct,
> there will be 10<sup>100 copies of me created in the next
> instant to which nothing bad happens, and a much smaller
> measure to whom something nasty happens, quite by chance.
> Presumably if I choose 50% over 10 copies, I should also
> choose 50% over 10<sup>100 copies, so if given the option
> between the status quo (assuming manyworlds) and a seemingly
> much higher chance of something nasty happening, I should
> choose the higher chance of nastiness (if I'm being consistent).
>
> There's not much answer to that; probably if I was convinced
> that manyworlds is correct, and something nasty *is* bound to
> happen to a small number of me in the next instant, I *would*
> choose the copies. In our thought experiment the subject
> knows he's getting tortured; unless we can prove manyworlds
> the nastiness is only conjecture.
>
> If that wasn't where you were heading, forgive the presumption... :)

Ok, you've convinced me (or did I convince myself?). I've joined the ranks
of the button pushers (with large number of copies anyway). But the
probabilities seem to make a difference. For instance if there's a 50%
chance of torture vs. 3 copies with one getting tortured for sure, I'll
still choose the 50%. Don't ask me at which number of copies I'll start
pushing the button; I dunno.

Jonathan Colvin
Received on Thu Jun 23 2005 - 00:57:22 PDT