I believe no-one has stated what to me seems rather obvious:
There’s a difference between not winning the lottery and almost winning the lottery. If yesterday you had told me that I would not be making 200$ via LW comments, this wouldn’t have bothered me, but now that I perceive an opportunity to win 200$ via LW comments, it does bother me if I don’t succeed. I’m not saying this makes the experiment a bad idea, but it is psychologically unnerving.
I believe no-one has stated what to me seems rather obvious:
There’s a difference between not winning the lottery and almost winning the lottery. If yesterday you had told me that I would not be making 200$ via LW comments, this wouldn’t have bothered me, but now that I perceive an opportunity to win 200$ via LW comments, it does bother me if I don’t succeed. I’m not saying this makes the experiment a bad idea, but it is psychologically unnerving.