I know that this is only a hypothetical example, but I must admit that I’m fairly shocked at the number of people indicating that they would select the torture option (as long as it wasn’t them being tortured). We should be wary of the temptation to support something unorthodox for the effect of: “Hey, look at what a hardcore rationalist I can be.” Real decisions have real effects on real people.
I know that this is only a hypothetical example, but I must admit that I’m fairly shocked at the number of people indicating that they would select the torture option (as long as it wasn’t them being tortured). We should be wary of the temptation to support something unorthodox for the effect of: “Hey, look at what a hardcore rationalist I can be.” Real decisions have real effects on real people.