Whatever particular small problem you choose, then ask yourself how you compare small-problem-to-lots-of-people with large-problem-to-fewer-people.
If disutilities add across people, then for some number of people I arrive at the counterintuitive conclusion that 50 years of torture to one person is preferable to small-problem-to-lots-of-people.
It is counterintuitive, and at least for me it’s REALLY counterintuitive. On wether to save 400 people or 500 people with 90% change it didn’t take me many seconds to choose second option, but this feels very different. Now that you put it in terms of unit of disutily isntead of dust specks it is easier to think about, and on some level it does feel like torture of one person would be the logical choice. And then part of my mind starts screamin this is wrong.
Thanks for your reply though, I’ll have to think about all this.
I suspect it’s really counterintuitive to most people. That’s why it gets so much discussion, and in particular why so many people fight the hypothetical so hard. The “yeah, that makes sense, but then my brain starts screaming” reaction is pretty common.
And yes, I agree that if we compare things that are closer together in scale, our intuitions don’t break down quite so dramatically.
It is counterintuitive, and at least for me it’s REALLY counterintuitive. On wether to save 400 people or 500 people with 90% change it didn’t take me many seconds to choose second option, but this feels very different. Now that you put it in terms of unit of disutily isntead of dust specks it is easier to think about, and on some level it does feel like torture of one person would be the logical choice. And then part of my mind starts screamin this is wrong.
Thanks for your reply though, I’ll have to think about all this.
I suspect it’s really counterintuitive to most people. That’s why it gets so much discussion, and in particular why so many people fight the hypothetical so hard. The “yeah, that makes sense, but then my brain starts screaming” reaction is pretty common.
And yes, I agree that if we compare things that are closer together in scale, our intuitions don’t break down quite so dramatically.