Congratulations on continuing this line of inquiry!
One thing that worries me is that it seems to focus on the “wanting” part to the exclusion of the “liking” part, so we may end up in a world we desire today but won’t enjoy tomorrow. In particular, I suspect that a world built according to our publicly stated preferences (which is what many people seem to think when they hear “reflective equilibrium”) won’t be very fun to live in. That might happen if we get much of our fun from instinctive and Pavlovian actions rather than planned actions, which seems likely to be true for at least some people. What do you think about that?
I think that upon reflection, we would desire that our minds be designed in such a way that we get pleasure from getting the things we want, or pleasure whenever we want, or something — instead of how the system is currently set up, where we can’t always choose when we feel good and we only sometimes feel good as a result of getting what we want.
Yeah, I agree. I said that we should, in principle, rewire ourselves for this very reason in Bakkot’s (in)famous introduction thread, but Konkvistador replied he’s got reasons to be suspicious and fearful about such an undertaking.
It would be nice if liking and wanting coincided, but why does “make pleasurable that which we desire” sound better to you than “make desirable that which we find pleasurable”?
Suppose Kelly can’t stop thinking about pickle milkshakes. “Oh dang,” thinks she, “I could go for a pickle milkshake”. But in fact, she’d find a pickle milkshake quite gross. What would Kelly-mature want for Kelly-now? Have someone tell her that pickle milkshakes are gross? Modify her tongue to enjoy pickle milkshakes? Directly make her stop wanting pickle milkshakes? Search flavour space for a beverage superficially similar to pickle milkshakes that does not upset her stomach? Take second order utilities into account and let her drink the milkshake, provided it’s not damaging to her health in the long term, so that she’s in control of and can learn from her pickle milkshake experiences?
The things you listed sound modifying Kelly’s tongue. Is that a fair characterization?
Congratulations on continuing this line of inquiry!
One thing that worries me is that it seems to focus on the “wanting” part to the exclusion of the “liking” part, so we may end up in a world we desire today but won’t enjoy tomorrow. In particular, I suspect that a world built according to our publicly stated preferences (which is what many people seem to think when they hear “reflective equilibrium”) won’t be very fun to live in. That might happen if we get much of our fun from instinctive and Pavlovian actions rather than planned actions, which seems likely to be true for at least some people. What do you think about that?
I think that upon reflection, we would desire that our minds be designed in such a way that we get pleasure from getting the things we want, or pleasure whenever we want, or something — instead of how the system is currently set up, where we can’t always choose when we feel good and we only sometimes feel good as a result of getting what we want.
Yeah, I agree. I said that we should, in principle, rewire ourselves for this very reason in Bakkot’s (in)famous introduction thread, but Konkvistador replied he’s got reasons to be suspicious and fearful about such an undertaking.
It would be nice if liking and wanting coincided, but why does “make pleasurable that which we desire” sound better to you than “make desirable that which we find pleasurable”?
Suppose Kelly can’t stop thinking about pickle milkshakes. “Oh dang,” thinks she, “I could go for a pickle milkshake”. But in fact, she’d find a pickle milkshake quite gross. What would Kelly-mature want for Kelly-now? Have someone tell her that pickle milkshakes are gross? Modify her tongue to enjoy pickle milkshakes? Directly make her stop wanting pickle milkshakes? Search flavour space for a beverage superficially similar to pickle milkshakes that does not upset her stomach? Take second order utilities into account and let her drink the milkshake, provided it’s not damaging to her health in the long term, so that she’s in control of and can learn from her pickle milkshake experiences?
The things you listed sound modifying Kelly’s tongue. Is that a fair characterization?