Why are you so concerned with being able to maintain rationality even in altered or brain-damaged states? This has come up in different contexts in several recent posts.
Maybe because one never knows if their brain is going to become damaged, or whether it is in fact damaged right now. (That would be my explanation, I don’t know if it’s the same as Eliezer’s.)
My father, who has brain cancer, said after coming out of surgery that he felt he was at about 75% of capacity. It’s funny, as far as deadly serious cancer goes, that immediately before he said that, I thought to myself—but didn’t say aloud—that he was at about 70%, compared to 10% before going into surgery.
Anecdotal evidence is anecdotal, but not all brain damage renders one unaware of its presence.
Maybe because one never knows if their brain is going to become damaged, or whether it is in fact damaged right now. (That would be my explanation, I don’t know if it’s the same as Eliezer’s.)
My father, who has brain cancer, said after coming out of surgery that he felt he was at about 75% of capacity. It’s funny, as far as deadly serious cancer goes, that immediately before he said that, I thought to myself—but didn’t say aloud—that he was at about 70%, compared to 10% before going into surgery.
Anecdotal evidence is anecdotal, but not all brain damage renders one unaware of its presence.