I would rather take any outcome that leaves me alive, no matter how hellish, over one where I am dead. No qualification. I don’t see how that could be true if happiness were a terminal goal.
I don’t consider goals to be what people say they would do, but what they would actually do. So I don’t accept your idea of your terminal goal unless it is true that if you were in a hellish scenario indefinitely, with a button that would cause you to cease to exist, you would not press the button.
I think we have a factual disagreement here: I think you would press the button, and you think you would not. I think you are mistaken, but there does not seem any way to resolve the disagreement, since we cannot run the test.
After spending some time thinking about it, I think there is a constructive response I can make. I believe that brains and the goals they encode are fully malleable, given time and pressure. Everyone breaks under torture, and brainwashing can be used to rewire people to do or want anything at all. If I was actually in a hellish, eternal suffering outcome I’m sure that I would eventually break. I am absolutely certain of that. But that is because the person who breaks is no longer the same as the person who exists now. But the person that exist now and is typing this response would still rather roll the dice on a hellish outcome than accept certain oblivion. Give me the option of a painless death or _, for literally anything in that blank there, and I’ll take that outcome.
It makes sense as a description of possible future behavior. That is, if you are allowed to press a button now which will commit you to a hellish existence rather than non-existence, you might actually press it. But in this case I say you have a false belief, namely that a hellish existence is better than non-existence. What you call “breaking” would simply be accepting the truth of the matter.
I don’t consider goals to be what people say they would do, but what they would actually do. So I don’t accept your idea of your terminal goal unless it is true that if you were in a hellish scenario indefinitely, with a button that would cause you to cease to exist, you would not press the button.
I think we have a factual disagreement here: I think you would press the button, and you think you would not. I think you are mistaken, but there does not seem any way to resolve the disagreement, since we cannot run the test.
This is the same username2 as the sibling.
After spending some time thinking about it, I think there is a constructive response I can make. I believe that brains and the goals they encode are fully malleable, given time and pressure. Everyone breaks under torture, and brainwashing can be used to rewire people to do or want anything at all. If I was actually in a hellish, eternal suffering outcome I’m sure that I would eventually break. I am absolutely certain of that. But that is because the person who breaks is no longer the same as the person who exists now. But the person that exist now and is typing this response would still rather roll the dice on a hellish outcome than accept certain oblivion. Give me the option of a painless death or _, for literally anything in that blank there, and I’ll take that outcome.
Does that make sense?
It makes sense as a description of possible future behavior. That is, if you are allowed to press a button now which will commit you to a hellish existence rather than non-existence, you might actually press it. But in this case I say you have a false belief, namely that a hellish existence is better than non-existence. What you call “breaking” would simply be accepting the truth of the matter.
I take inspiration from the movie Touching the Viod. Do you?
Beyond that I don’t know what to say. I’ve stated my preferences and you’ve said “I don’t believe you.” I have no desire to respond to that.