This is an expected utility calculation that involves a small probability of a large payoff with large margins of error. Here’s what I take as the essence of Holden’s post: “an estimate with little enough estimate error can almost be taken literally, while an estimate with large enough estimate error ends ought to be almost ignored.” I have very little confidence in both my and Academian’s estimate of which candidates winning will actually turn out to be better overall, and what the monetary value of each winning over their alternatives would actually be. Obama may seem to align with my values slightly more than Romney, but an office as powerful as the President of the US has many small, complex effects on many people’s quality of life, and we could all easily be wrong.
This is an expected utility calculation that involves a small probability of a large payoff with large margins of error. Here’s what I take as the essence of Holden’s post: “an estimate with little enough estimate error can almost be taken literally, while an estimate with large enough estimate error ends ought to be almost ignored.” I have very little confidence in both my and Academian’s estimate of which candidates winning will actually turn out to be better overall, and what the monetary value of each winning over their alternatives would actually be. Obama may seem to align with my values slightly more than Romney, but an office as powerful as the President of the US has many small, complex effects on many people’s quality of life, and we could all easily be wrong.