What math is that? Are you talking about number of lives at any given century—effectively judging the situation as if time-periods were sentient observers to be happy or unhappy at their current situation?
Do you have any reason to believe that maximum diversity in human minds (i.e. allowing lots of different humans to exist) would be best satisfied by cramming them all in the same century, as densely as possible?
A trillion lives all crammed in the same century aren’t inherently more worthwhile than a trillion lives spread over a hundred centuries—any more than 10 people forced to live in the same flat are inherently more precious than 10 people having separate apartments. Do you have any reason to prefer the former over the latter? Surely there’s some ideal range where utility is satisfied in terms of people density spread over time and location.
When you use up negentropy, it is used up for good, and there is a finite amount in each section of the universe. The amount being used on Ishtar could theoretically support good lives of billions of upload minds (or a smaller but still huge number of other possible lives). This isn’t a matter of a long and narrow future or a short and wide future, but of how many total, worthwhile lives will exist.
As for quality, there seems to be no reason why simulations can’t be as happy, or even happier than Ishtar.
What math is that? Are you talking about number of lives at any given century—effectively judging the situation as if time-periods were sentient observers to be happy or unhappy at their current situation?
Do you have any reason to believe that maximum diversity in human minds (i.e. allowing lots of different humans to exist) would be best satisfied by cramming them all in the same century, as densely as possible?
A trillion lives all crammed in the same century aren’t inherently more worthwhile than a trillion lives spread over a hundred centuries—any more than 10 people forced to live in the same flat are inherently more precious than 10 people having separate apartments. Do you have any reason to prefer the former over the latter? Surely there’s some ideal range where utility is satisfied in terms of people density spread over time and location.
You are misunderstanding my argument.
When you use up negentropy, it is used up for good, and there is a finite amount in each section of the universe. The amount being used on Ishtar could theoretically support good lives of billions of upload minds (or a smaller but still huge number of other possible lives). This isn’t a matter of a long and narrow future or a short and wide future, but of how many total, worthwhile lives will exist.
As for quality, there seems to be no reason why simulations can’t be as happy, or even happier than Ishtar.