Okay, here’s a new argument for you (originally proposed by James Miller, and which I have yet to see adequately addressed): assume that you live on a planet with a population of 3^^^3 distinct people. (The “planet” part is obviously not possible, and the “distinct” part may or may not be possible, but for the purposes of a discussion about morality, it’s fine to assume these.)
Now let’s suppose that you are given a choice: (a) everyone on the planet can get a dust speck in the eye right now, or (b) the entire planet holds a lottery, and the one person who “wins” (or “loses”, more accurately) will be tortured for 50 years. Which would you choose?
If you are against torture (as you seem to be, from your comment), you will presumably choose (a). But now let’s suppose you are allowed to blink just before the dust speck enters your eye. Call this choice (c). Seeing as you probably prefer not having a dust speck in your eye to having one in your eye, you will most likely prefer (c) to (a).
However, 3^^^3 just so unimaginably enormous that blinking for even the tiniest fraction of a second increases the probability that you will be captured by a madman during that blink and tortured for 50 years by more than 1/3^^^3. But since the lottery proposed in (b) only offers a 1/3^^^3 probability of being picked for the torture, (b) is preferable to (c).
Then, by the transitivity axiom, if you prefer (c) to (a) and (b) to (c), you must prefer (b) to (a).
However, 3^^^3 just so unimaginably enormous that blinking for even the tiniest fraction of a second increases the probability that you will be captured by a madman during that blink and tortured for 50 years by more than 1/3^^^3.
And the time spent setting up a lottery and carrying out the drawing also increases the probability that someone else gets captured and tortured in the intervening time, far more than blinking would. In fact, the probability goes up anyway in that fraction of a second, whether you blink or not. You can’t stop time, so there’s no reason to prefer (c) to (b).
In fact, the probability goes up anyway in that fraction of a second, whether you blink or not.
Ah, sorry; I wasn’t clear. What I meant was that blinking increases your probability of being tortured beyond the normal “baseline” probability of torture. Obviously, even if you don’t blink, there’s still a probability of you being tortured. My claim is that blinking affects the probability of being tortured so that the probability is higher than it would be if you hadn’t blinked (since you can’t see for a fraction of a second while blinking, leaving you ever-so-slightly more vulnerable than you would be with your eyes open), and moreover that it would increase by more than 1/3^^^3. So basically what I’m saying is that P(torture|blink) > P(torture|~blink) + 1/3^^^3.
The choice comes down to dust specks at time T or dust specks at time T + dT, where the interval dT allows you time to blink. The argument is that in the interval dT, the probability of being captured and tortured increases by an amount greater than your odds in the lottery.
It seems to me that the blinking is immaterial. If the question were whether to hold the lottery today or put dust in everyone’s eyes tomorrow, the argument should be unchanged. It appears to hinge on the notion that as time increases, so do the odds of something bad happening, and therefore you’d prefer to be in the present instead of the future.
The problem I have is that the future is going to happen anyway. Once the interval dT passes, the odds of someone being captured in that time will go up regardless of whether you chose the lottery or not.
However, 3^^^3 just so unimaginably enormous that blinking for even the tiniest fraction of a second increases the probability that you will be captured by a madman during that blink and tortured for 50 years by more than 1/3^^^3.
Both numbers seem basically arbitrarily small (probability 0).
Since the planet has so many distinct people, and they blink more than once a day, you are essentially asserting that on that planet, multiple people are kidnapped and tortured for more than 50 years several times a day.
Since the planet has so many distinct people, and they blink more than once a day, you are essentially asserting that on that planet, multiple people are kidnapped and tortured for more than 50 years several times a day.
Well, I mean, obviously a single person can’t be kidnapped more than once every 50 years (assuming that’s how long each torture session lasts), and certainly not several times a day, since he/she wouldn’t have finished being tortured quickly enough to be kidnapped again. But yes, the general sentiment of your comment is correct, I’d say. The prospect of a planet with daily kidnappings and 50-year-long torture sessions may seem strange, but that sort of thing is just what you get when you have a population count of 3^^^3.
Well, now I know you’re underestimating how big 3^^^3 is (and 5^^^5, too). But let’s say somehow you’re right, and the probability really is 1/5^^^5. All I have to do is modify the thought experiment so that the planet has 5^^^5 people instead of 3^^^3. There, problem solved.
So, new question: would you prefer that one person be horribly tortured for fifty years without hope or rest, or that 5^^^5 people get dust specks in their eyes?
Okay, here’s a new argument for you (originally proposed by James Miller, and which I have yet to see adequately addressed): assume that you live on a planet with a population of 3^^^3 distinct people. (The “planet” part is obviously not possible, and the “distinct” part may or may not be possible, but for the purposes of a discussion about morality, it’s fine to assume these.)
Now let’s suppose that you are given a choice: (a) everyone on the planet can get a dust speck in the eye right now, or (b) the entire planet holds a lottery, and the one person who “wins” (or “loses”, more accurately) will be tortured for 50 years. Which would you choose?
If you are against torture (as you seem to be, from your comment), you will presumably choose (a). But now let’s suppose you are allowed to blink just before the dust speck enters your eye. Call this choice (c). Seeing as you probably prefer not having a dust speck in your eye to having one in your eye, you will most likely prefer (c) to (a).
However, 3^^^3 just so unimaginably enormous that blinking for even the tiniest fraction of a second increases the probability that you will be captured by a madman during that blink and tortured for 50 years by more than 1/3^^^3. But since the lottery proposed in (b) only offers a 1/3^^^3 probability of being picked for the torture, (b) is preferable to (c).
Then, by the transitivity axiom, if you prefer (c) to (a) and (b) to (c), you must prefer (b) to (a).
Q.E.D.
And the time spent setting up a lottery and carrying out the drawing also increases the probability that someone else gets captured and tortured in the intervening time, far more than blinking would. In fact, the probability goes up anyway in that fraction of a second, whether you blink or not. You can’t stop time, so there’s no reason to prefer (c) to (b).
Ah, sorry; I wasn’t clear. What I meant was that blinking increases your probability of being tortured beyond the normal “baseline” probability of torture. Obviously, even if you don’t blink, there’s still a probability of you being tortured. My claim is that blinking affects the probability of being tortured so that the probability is higher than it would be if you hadn’t blinked (since you can’t see for a fraction of a second while blinking, leaving you ever-so-slightly more vulnerable than you would be with your eyes open), and moreover that it would increase by more than 1/3^^^3. So basically what I’m saying is that P(torture|blink) > P(torture|~blink) + 1/3^^^3.
Let me see if I get this straight:
The choice comes down to dust specks at time T or dust specks at time T + dT, where the interval dT allows you time to blink. The argument is that in the interval dT, the probability of being captured and tortured increases by an amount greater than your odds in the lottery.
It seems to me that the blinking is immaterial. If the question were whether to hold the lottery today or put dust in everyone’s eyes tomorrow, the argument should be unchanged. It appears to hinge on the notion that as time increases, so do the odds of something bad happening, and therefore you’d prefer to be in the present instead of the future.
The problem I have is that the future is going to happen anyway. Once the interval dT passes, the odds of someone being captured in that time will go up regardless of whether you chose the lottery or not.
This seems pretty unlikely to be true.
I think you underestimate the magnitude of 3^^^3 (and thereby overestimate the magnitude of 1/3^^^3).
Both numbers seem basically arbitrarily small (probability 0).
Since the planet has so many distinct people, and they blink more than once a day, you are essentially asserting that on that planet, multiple people are kidnapped and tortured for more than 50 years several times a day.
Well, I mean, obviously a single person can’t be kidnapped more than once every 50 years (assuming that’s how long each torture session lasts), and certainly not several times a day, since he/she wouldn’t have finished being tortured quickly enough to be kidnapped again. But yes, the general sentiment of your comment is correct, I’d say. The prospect of a planet with daily kidnappings and 50-year-long torture sessions may seem strange, but that sort of thing is just what you get when you have a population count of 3^^^3.
I worked it out back of the envelope, and the probability of being kidnapped when you blink is only 1/5^^^5.
Well, now I know you’re underestimating how big 3^^^3 is (and 5^^^5, too). But let’s say somehow you’re right, and the probability really is 1/5^^^5. All I have to do is modify the thought experiment so that the planet has 5^^^5 people instead of 3^^^3. There, problem solved.
So, new question: would you prefer that one person be horribly tortured for fifty years without hope or rest, or that 5^^^5 people get dust specks in their eyes?