Comment by gl on Circular Altruism · 2008-01-23T01:30:38.000Z · LW · GW

I think I understand the point of the recent series of posts, but I find them rather unsatisfying. It seems to me that there is a problem with translating emotional situations into probability calculations. This is a very real and interesting problem, but saying "shut up and multiply" is not a good way to approach it. Borrowing from 'A Technical Explanation' it's kind of like the blue tentacle question. When I am asked what would I do when faced with the choice between a googolplex of dust specks or 50 years of torture, my reaction is: But that would never happen! Or, perhaps, I would tell the psychopath who was trying to force me to make such a choice to go f- himself.