I think I’ve seen some other comments bring it up, but I’ll say it again. I think people who go for the torture are working off a model of linear discomfort addition, in which case the badness of the torture would have to be as bad as 3^^^3 dust particles in the eye to justify taking the dust. However, I’d argue that it’s not linear. Two specs of dust is worse than twice as bad as one spec. 3^^^3 people getting specs in their eyes is unimaginably less bad than one person getting 3^^^3 specs (a ridiculous image considering that’s throwing universes into a dude’s eye). So the spec very well may be less than 1/(3^^^3) as bad as torture.
Even so, I doubt it. So purely utilitarian probably does suggest torture the one guy.
It has to be more than just not linear for that to solve it, it has to be so nonlinear that no finite number of specks at all can add up to the torture, since otherwise we could just ask the same question using the new number instead of 3^^^3.
If it’s so nonlinear that no finite number of specks can add up to torture, then you find the maximum amount that a finite number of specks can add up to. Then there are two amounts (one slightly more than that and one slightly less) where one amount cannot be balanced by dust particles and one amount can, which doesn’t really make any sense.
I think I’ve seen some other comments bring it up, but I’ll say it again. I think people who go for the torture are working off a model of linear discomfort addition, in which case the badness of the torture would have to be as bad as 3^^^3 dust particles in the eye to justify taking the dust. However, I’d argue that it’s not linear. Two specs of dust is worse than twice as bad as one spec. 3^^^3 people getting specs in their eyes is unimaginably less bad than one person getting 3^^^3 specs (a ridiculous image considering that’s throwing universes into a dude’s eye). So the spec very well may be less than 1/(3^^^3) as bad as torture.
Even so, I doubt it. So purely utilitarian probably does suggest torture the one guy.
It has to be more than just not linear for that to solve it, it has to be so nonlinear that no finite number of specks at all can add up to the torture, since otherwise we could just ask the same question using the new number instead of 3^^^3.
If it’s so nonlinear that no finite number of specks can add up to torture, then you find the maximum amount that a finite number of specks can add up to. Then there are two amounts (one slightly more than that and one slightly less) where one amount cannot be balanced by dust particles and one amount can, which doesn’t really make any sense.