Finally, if we accept the simulation hypothesis, we again have no necessary access to the simulators’ universe. Only if we both accept the hypothesis and believe we can influence the parent universe in determinable ways can we make decisions that have an infinite impact. In that case, infinite value is again only accessible via this route.
This seems like an isolated demand for… something. If we accept the simulation hypothesis, we still have a credence distribution over what the simulators’ universe might be like, including what the simulators are like, what their purpose in creating the simulation is, etc. We don’t need to believe we can influence the parent universe “in determinable ways” to make decisions that take into account possible effects on the parent universe. We certainly don’t need “necessary access.” We don’t have necessary access to anything pretty much. Or maybe I just don’t know what you mean by these quoted phrases?
That’s fair. What I meant by necessary access, but said unclearly, was that for there to be infinite value, we need to not only accept the simulation hypothesis, but also require that there be some possible influence / access—it’s necessary to assume both. And yes, if we have some finite probability that both the simulation hypothesis is true and that our actions could affect the simulators, I agree that we can have some credence over how we could influence their universe, which means that we could have access to infinite value. But as noted, the entire access to infinite value is still conditional on whatever probability we assign to this join condition. And in that case, if we care about total value, 100% of all expected value is riding on that single possibility.
This seems like an isolated demand for… something. If we accept the simulation hypothesis, we still have a credence distribution over what the simulators’ universe might be like, including what the simulators are like, what their purpose in creating the simulation is, etc. We don’t need to believe we can influence the parent universe “in determinable ways” to make decisions that take into account possible effects on the parent universe. We certainly don’t need “necessary access.” We don’t have necessary access to anything pretty much. Or maybe I just don’t know what you mean by these quoted phrases?
That’s fair. What I meant by necessary access, but said unclearly, was that for there to be infinite value, we need to not only accept the simulation hypothesis, but also require that there be some possible influence / access—it’s necessary to assume both. And yes, if we have some finite probability that both the simulation hypothesis is true and that our actions could affect the simulators, I agree that we can have some credence over how we could influence their universe, which means that we could have access to infinite value. But as noted, the entire access to infinite value is still conditional on whatever probability we assign to this join condition. And in that case, if we care about total value, 100% of all expected value is riding on that single possibility.