So a priori I’d have expected to dislike this post, because I believe (1) the utility monster concept is iffy and confuses more than it clarifies, and (2) my intuitions skew risk averse and/or negative utilitarian, in the sense that I’d rather not create new sapient beings just to use them as utility pumps. But I quite like it for some reason and I can’t put my finger on why.
Maybe because it takes a dubious premise (the utility monster concept) and derives a conclusion (make utility monsters to feed them) that seems less incoherent to me than the usual conclusion derived from the premise (utility monsters are awful, for some reason, even though by assumption they generate huge amounts of utility, oh dear!)?
(utility monsters are awful, for some reason, even though by assumption they generate huge amounts of utility, oh dear!)
Utility monsters are awful, possibly for no reason whatsoever. That’s OK. Value is complex. Some things are just bad, not because they entail any bad thing but just because they themselves are bad.
So a priori I’d have expected to dislike this post, because I believe (1) the utility monster concept is iffy and confuses more than it clarifies, and (2) my intuitions skew risk averse and/or negative utilitarian, in the sense that I’d rather not create new sapient beings just to use them as utility pumps. But I quite like it for some reason and I can’t put my finger on why.
Maybe because it takes a dubious premise (the utility monster concept) and derives a conclusion (make utility monsters to feed them) that seems less incoherent to me than the usual conclusion derived from the premise (utility monsters are awful, for some reason, even though by assumption they generate huge amounts of utility, oh dear!)?
(utility monsters are awful, for some reason, even though by assumption they generate huge amounts of utility, oh dear!)
Utility monsters are awful, possibly for no reason whatsoever. That’s OK. Value is complex. Some things are just bad, not because they entail any bad thing but just because they themselves are bad.
You’re allowed to define utility monsters as terminally awful; it’s just not going to convince me.