But in one world, the abilities that come with seniority are openly discussed, hence widely known; you know what you have to look forward to.
In the other world, anyone older than you will refuse to talk about certain aspects of growing up; you’ll just have to wait and find out.
I ask you to contemplate—not just which world you might prefer to live in—but how much you might want to live in the second world, rather than the first. I would even say that the second world seems more alive; when I imagine living there, my imagined will to live feels stronger. I’ve got to stay alive to find out what happens next, right?
I take the first option.
My problem with the second is that the real world contains enough surprise already, without having to add artificial, fake surprise. I’ve got to stay alive to find out what happens next, anyway, and I can do without UFNIs sticking their oar in and treating me like their pet cat. (“Oh yes, you do like a surprise, don’t you, I just know you do, yes you do, it will be a wonderful surprise yes it will etc.etc.”)
Actually, going back to Eliezer’s article expanding rule 9, Justified Expectation of Pleasant Surprises, he imagines two possible worlds:
I take the first option.
My problem with the second is that the real world contains enough surprise already, without having to add artificial, fake surprise. I’ve got to stay alive to find out what happens next, anyway, and I can do without UFNIs sticking their oar in and treating me like their pet cat. (“Oh yes, you do like a surprise, don’t you, I just know you do, yes you do, it will be a wonderful surprise yes it will etc.etc.”)
Though the context dampened it, I was surprised to hear that anyone at all would even slightly prefer the second option.
I think this may constitute the first time that I’ve felt a serious and noticeable disconnect with Eliezer.