Note that I am not the person making the argument, just clarifying what is meant by “utility”, which in its use around here specifically means that which is constructed by the VNM theorem. I am not a particular fan of applying the concept to universal decision-making.
You still end up with zero at the end of things.
Are you arguing that all things end, therefore there is no value in anything?
Well, there is precedent:
All is vanity. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?
I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity. I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?”
Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.
The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them. Then I said in my heart, “What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?” And I said in my heart that this also is vanity. For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool! So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind.
Are you arguing that all things end, therefore there is no value in anything?
My argument was not meant to imply nihilism, though that is an interesting point. (Aside: Where is the quote from?) Rather, I meant to imply the hidden costs (e.g. time for calculation or input) making the exercise meaningless. As has been argued by several people now, having the Agent be able to state arbitrarily large or accurate numbers, or able to wait an arbitrarily large amount of time without losing any utility is… let’s say problematic. As much so as the likelyhood of the Game Master being able to actually hand out utility based on an arbitrarily large/accurate number.
Note that I am not the person making the argument, just clarifying what is meant by “utility”, which in its use around here specifically means that which is constructed by the VNM theorem. I am not a particular fan of applying the concept to universal decision-making.
Are you arguing that all things end, therefore there is no value in anything?
Well, there is precedent:
reviews VNM Theorem
Noted, and thanks for the update. :)
My argument was not meant to imply nihilism, though that is an interesting point. (Aside: Where is the quote from?) Rather, I meant to imply the hidden costs (e.g. time for calculation or input) making the exercise meaningless. As has been argued by several people now, having the Agent be able to state arbitrarily large or accurate numbers, or able to wait an arbitrarily large amount of time without losing any utility is… let’s say problematic. As much so as the likelyhood of the Game Master being able to actually hand out utility based on an arbitrarily large/accurate number.
The quotation is from the biblical Book of Ecclesiastes, traditionally (but probably wrongly) ascribed to the allegedly very wise King Solomon.