Aversive experiences are generally more intense than pleasant experiences. Imagine you have a choice between :
a) 10 seconds of experiencing the greatest pleasure that you have ever had in your life followed by one second of the most excruciating pain that you have ever experienced
or b) 11 seconds spent unconscious
I think that most people would choose option b.
Similarly, I think that most people have lives that are worth living, but there are some people with severe depression whose lives have extremely negative utility. Creating happy lives is a good thing, but I reckon that creating a life that has a 90% chance of being happy and a 10% chance of having severe depression would be a net negative in expected utility.
Aversive experiences are generally more intense than pleasant experiences. Imagine you have a choice between : a) 10 seconds of experiencing the greatest pleasure that you have ever had in your life followed by one second of the most excruciating pain that you have ever experienced or b) 11 seconds spent unconscious
I think that most people would choose option b.
Similarly, I think that most people have lives that are worth living, but there are some people with severe depression whose lives have extremely negative utility. Creating happy lives is a good thing, but I reckon that creating a life that has a 90% chance of being happy and a 10% chance of having severe depression would be a net negative in expected utility.