(8) Suppose you are told that your fatal disease can only be cured by wearing a necklace. You ask how many people have been cured and receive the answer “None”. You ask how the necklace works, and are told that it might be nano-technology, or it might be scanning and uploading. “We don’t know yet, but that there is reason to be confident that it will work.” Do you wear the necklace?
Answering yes to (8) means that you shouldn’t refrain from cryonics because you fear signaling that you are prone to being victimized by quacks.
You’re confusing different questions. Each question should isolate a single potential motivation and show that it is not, of itself, sufficient reason to refuse. If you fear signaling, don’t tell people about the necklace. If you fear quacks, don’t make the question be about a necklace or about signaling.
There was some irony, but skepticism is a real reason why some people refrain. The necklace is simply part of the scenario, I see no particular reason to remove it from the story except risk of confusion. So, instead of a necklace, make it a “magic decoder ring”, or, if we need to maintain privacy, a “harmonic suppository”.
EY is right, though that if this one is meant seriously, the final sentence should read:
Answering yes to (8) means that you shouldn’t refrain from cryonics because you dislike being victimized by quacks.
I thought Eliezer was taking your comment a bit seriously—but on rereading his comment, I now think it makes sense to ask for your objections to be split up.
There’s a problem, though—his “don’t tell people about the necklace” sounds as though it would help to defeat its ostensible purpose. It is intended to send a message to those close to the near-death-experience. It is tricky to send that kind of message to one group, while not sending it to everyone else as well.
Actually, I suspect that most people would answer no to this, at least in practice.
(8) Suppose you are told that your fatal disease can only be cured by wearing a necklace. You ask how many people have been cured and receive the answer “None”. You ask how the necklace works, and are told that it might be nano-technology, or it might be scanning and uploading. “We don’t know yet, but that there is reason to be confident that it will work.” Do you wear the necklace?
Answering yes to (8) means that you shouldn’t refrain from cryonics because you fear signaling that you are prone to being victimized by quacks.
You’re confusing different questions. Each question should isolate a single potential motivation and show that it is not, of itself, sufficient reason to refuse. If you fear signaling, don’t tell people about the necklace. If you fear quacks, don’t make the question be about a necklace or about signaling.
I think that was intended more as irony.
There was some irony, but skepticism is a real reason why some people refrain. The necklace is simply part of the scenario, I see no particular reason to remove it from the story except risk of confusion. So, instead of a necklace, make it a “magic decoder ring”, or, if we need to maintain privacy, a “harmonic suppository”.
EY is right, though that if this one is meant seriously, the final sentence should read: Answering yes to (8) means that you shouldn’t refrain from cryonics because you dislike being victimized by quacks.
Necklace seems OK to me—the Alcor Emergency ID Tags includes a necklace and bracelet.
I thought Eliezer was taking your comment a bit seriously—but on rereading his comment, I now think it makes sense to ask for your objections to be split up.
There’s a problem, though—his “don’t tell people about the necklace” sounds as though it would help to defeat its ostensible purpose. It is intended to send a message to those close to the near-death-experience. It is tricky to send that kind of message to one group, while not sending it to everyone else as well.