But that’s ridiculous. I would gladly exchange being tortured for a few seconds—say, waterboarding, like Christopher Hitchens suffered—for, say, an end to starvation worldwide!
More to the point, deleting infinities from your equations works sometimes—I’ve heard of it being done in quantum mechanics—but doing so with the noisy filter of your personal ignorance, or even the less-noisy filter of theoretical detectability, leaves wide open the possibility of inconsistencies in your system. It’s just not what a consistent moral framework looks like.
A utility function is just a way of describing the ranking of desirability of scenarios. I’m not convinced that singularities on the left can’t be a part of that description.
Singularities on the left I can’t rule out universally, but setting the utility of torture to negative infinity … well, I’ve told you my reasons for objecting. If you want me to spend more time elaborating, let me know; for my own part, I’m done.
But that’s ridiculous. I would gladly exchange being tortured for a few seconds—say, waterboarding, like Christopher Hitchens suffered—for, say, an end to starvation worldwide!
More to the point, deleting infinities from your equations works sometimes—I’ve heard of it being done in quantum mechanics—but doing so with the noisy filter of your personal ignorance, or even the less-noisy filter of theoretical detectability, leaves wide open the possibility of inconsistencies in your system. It’s just not what a consistent moral framework looks like.
I agree about the torture for a few seconds.
A utility function is just a way of describing the ranking of desirability of scenarios. I’m not convinced that singularities on the left can’t be a part of that description.
Singularities on the left I can’t rule out universally, but setting the utility of torture to negative infinity … well, I’ve told you my reasons for objecting. If you want me to spend more time elaborating, let me know; for my own part, I’m done.