And I am quite sure that 99% of mankind would agree with me that 1% discounting per year is not an excessive discount rate.
I suspect that 99% of mankind would give different answers to that question, depending on whether it’s framed as giving up X now in exchange for receiving Y N years from now, or X N years ago for Y now.
Quite probably true. Which of course suggests the question: How (or how much) should “typical humans” be consulted about our plans for their future?
Yeah, I know that is an unfair way to ask the question. And I admit that Eliezer, at least, is actually doing something to raise the waterline. But it is a serious ethical question for utilitarians and a serious political question for egoists. And the closest thing I have seen to an answer for that question around here is something like “Well, we will scan their brains, or observe their behavior, or something. And then try to get something coherent out of that data. But God forbid we should ask them about it. That would just confuse things.”
I suspect that 99% of mankind would give different answers to that question, depending on whether it’s framed as giving up X now in exchange for receiving Y N years from now, or X N years ago for Y now.
Not to mention that typical humans behave like hyperbolic discounters, and many can not even be made to understand the concept of a “discount rate”.
Quite probably true. Which of course suggests the question: How (or how much) should “typical humans” be consulted about our plans for their future?
Yeah, I know that is an unfair way to ask the question. And I admit that Eliezer, at least, is actually doing something to raise the waterline. But it is a serious ethical question for utilitarians and a serious political question for egoists. And the closest thing I have seen to an answer for that question around here is something like “Well, we will scan their brains, or observe their behavior, or something. And then try to get something coherent out of that data. But God forbid we should ask them about it. That would just confuse things.”