For decision-theoretic purposes, any statement which leads to the conclusion that none of your actions matter can be safely marked false without risk of negative consequences, since if it’s true, no decision you make based on the belief that it’s true can have consequences. “I am a Boltzmann brain” is one such statement—if you are, then you aren’t embedded in a universe you can affect. So I mark that statement, and all its variations, false, and don’t bother to guess their probability.
I don’t think that completely follows. If someone is a Boltzmann brain then they should optimize their remaining fraction of a second to think thoughts that give them highest utility. This is an argument to think about having sex with whatever gender one prefers.
I agree with you when it comes to the decision theory aspects. I don’t believe I am a BB, nor do I lose sleep over the possibility. Nor do I worry about the possibility that the universe may end abruptly… But I am interested in what philosophy these presumptions lead to.
For decision-theoretic purposes, any statement which leads to the conclusion that none of your actions matter can be safely marked false without risk of negative consequences, since if it’s true, no decision you make based on the belief that it’s true can have consequences. “I am a Boltzmann brain” is one such statement—if you are, then you aren’t embedded in a universe you can affect. So I mark that statement, and all its variations, false, and don’t bother to guess their probability.
I don’t think that completely follows. If someone is a Boltzmann brain then they should optimize their remaining fraction of a second to think thoughts that give them highest utility. This is an argument to think about having sex with whatever gender one prefers.
I agree with you when it comes to the decision theory aspects. I don’t believe I am a BB, nor do I lose sleep over the possibility. Nor do I worry about the possibility that the universe may end abruptly… But I am interested in what philosophy these presumptions lead to.