The lifespan dilemma seems very similar to drug use dilemmas in general. For instance, using the generic term “Dose” which could be about a lifespan boosting chemical or a euphoriant drug, they appear to share several premises and points.
Premise 1: The first dose is good.
Premise 2: The next dose is better.
Premise 3: Too many doses will almost certainly hurt/kill you.
Point 1: Precommitting to take a certain arbitrary number of doses can give better results than taking 0, 1 or arbitrarily large doses.
Point 2: Be extremely wary of taking doses from someone you don’t trust. They may be trying to pump you for utility.
Also, similar topics appear to come up a lot in Less Wrong debates in general. For instance, the Gandhi and the murder pills dilemma.
I’m not sure if I have any conclusions about this, but it does seem noteworthy.
You’re right, this sounds exactly like the Gandhi-murder-pills dilemma. It has all the premises you described, plus the risk of killing innocent people. And it probably has the same solution.
The lifespan dilemma seems very similar to drug use dilemmas in general. For instance, using the generic term “Dose” which could be about a lifespan boosting chemical or a euphoriant drug, they appear to share several premises and points.
Premise 1: The first dose is good.
Premise 2: The next dose is better.
Premise 3: Too many doses will almost certainly hurt/kill you.
Point 1: Precommitting to take a certain arbitrary number of doses can give better results than taking 0, 1 or arbitrarily large doses.
Point 2: Be extremely wary of taking doses from someone you don’t trust. They may be trying to pump you for utility.
Also, similar topics appear to come up a lot in Less Wrong debates in general. For instance, the Gandhi and the murder pills dilemma.
I’m not sure if I have any conclusions about this, but it does seem noteworthy.
You’re right, this sounds exactly like the Gandhi-murder-pills dilemma. It has all the premises you described, plus the risk of killing innocent people. And it probably has the same solution.