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CamperBob2today at 4:23 AM1 replyview on HN

How would you feel with a procedure in which your brain was scooped out like ice cream from a bowl, and replaced with circuits that would do a better job of your life for you?

One way to answer that might be to argue the counterfactual. How would I feel if I were born in the state described in the story -- little or no gray matter, but endowed with the promise of a successful, enjoyable life, valued and respected by those around me -- and someone offered me an earring whose advice would give rise to uncertainty, self-doubt, and a constant, nagging awareness of my own ignorance and lost potential?

What incentive would I have to continue wearing that earring?

For that version of the story to make sense, you'd almost have to make it a cursed object that couldn't be removed once equipped.


Replies

Dylan16807today at 4:28 AM

Well in that version you basically don't have the ability to make the decision at all. And it's unclear at that extreme if you're even enjoying things anymore.