I just noticed this argument, I hope I’m not too late in expressing my view.
Premise: I want to live in the universe with the least amount of pain.
And now for some calculations. For the sake of quantification, let’s assume that that the single tortured person will receive 1 whiplash per second, continuously, for 50 years. Let’s also assume that the pain of 1 whiplash is equivalent to 1 “pain unit”. Thus, if I chose to torture that person, I would add 3600 “pain units” per hour to the total amount of pain in the universe. In 1 day, the amount of pain in the universe would increase of 360024 = 110400 pain units. In 1 year, approximately 110400365+36006 = 40317600 pain units. In 50 years, approximately 4031760050 = 2015880000 pain units.
And now, let’s examine the specks. They were described as “barely enough to make you notice before you blink and wipe away the dust speck”. In other words, while they can be felt, the sensation is insufficient to trigger the nociceptors. This means that each speck increases the level of pain in the universe of 0 pain units. So, if 3^^^3 people received each a dust speck in one of their eyes, the amount of pain in the universe would increase of exactly 0*3^^^3 = 0 pain units!
This is why I would definitely choose SPECKS.
I just noticed this argument, I hope I’m not too late in expressing my view.
Premise: I want to live in the universe with the least amount of pain.
And now for some calculations. For the sake of quantification, let’s assume that that the single tortured person will receive 1 whiplash per second, continuously, for 50 years. Let’s also assume that the pain of 1 whiplash is equivalent to 1 “pain unit”. Thus, if I chose to torture that person, I would add 3600 “pain units” per hour to the total amount of pain in the universe. In 1 day, the amount of pain in the universe would increase of 360024 = 110400 pain units. In 1 year, approximately 110400365+36006 = 40317600 pain units. In 50 years, approximately 4031760050 = 2015880000 pain units. And now, let’s examine the specks. They were described as “barely enough to make you notice before you blink and wipe away the dust speck”. In other words, while they can be felt, the sensation is insufficient to trigger the nociceptors. This means that each speck increases the level of pain in the universe of 0 pain units. So, if 3^^^3 people received each a dust speck in one of their eyes, the amount of pain in the universe would increase of exactly 0*3^^^3 = 0 pain units! This is why I would definitely choose SPECKS.