each individual generally knows their own needs and wants better than anyone else does.
I don’t know the needs and wants of the future.
Expected-utility calculation already takes that into effect. Uncertainty about whether an action will be beneficial translates into a lower expected utility. Discounting, on top of that, is double counting.
Knowledge is a fact about probabilities, not utilities.
Not to me.
Let’s hope our different intuitions are resolvable.
I’m not entirely sure what it means to care about a person who doesn’t exist yet, and where my choices will influence which of many possible versions will exist.
Surely it’s not much more difficult than caring about a person who your choices will dramatically change?
Expected-utility calculation already takes that into effect. Uncertainty about whether an action will be beneficial translates into a lower expected utility. Discounting, on top of that, is double counting.
Knowledge is a fact about probabilities, not utilities.
Let’s hope our different intuitions are resolvable.
Surely it’s not much more difficult than caring about a person who your choices will dramatically change?