The point of the post was to investigate the reallocation of existing resources to maximize total utility by creating more less-happy people, and whether this can evade the mere addition paradox. In case of logarithmic dependence of utility on resources available, the utility of this reallocation peaks at a certain “optimal happiness,” thus evading the repugnant conclusion. Any faster growth, and the repugnant conclusion survives. Not sure what −1 in (resources − 1)^(1/3) does, haven’t done the calculation...
Check the math on the formula I gave, it also peaks, and it grows faster than log.
I don’t think it’s that interesting if the paradox is not faced with a fixed level of resources, since the paradox still makes it hard to construct an intuitive formalization of our preferences about populations that gives intuitive answers to a variety of possible problems, and besides resources aren’t fixed. See this post.
The point of the post was to investigate the reallocation of existing resources to maximize total utility by creating more less-happy people, and whether this can evade the mere addition paradox. In case of logarithmic dependence of utility on resources available, the utility of this reallocation peaks at a certain “optimal happiness,” thus evading the repugnant conclusion. Any faster growth, and the repugnant conclusion survives. Not sure what −1 in (resources − 1)^(1/3) does, haven’t done the calculation...
Check the math on the formula I gave, it also peaks, and it grows faster than log.
I don’t think it’s that interesting if the paradox is not faced with a fixed level of resources, since the paradox still makes it hard to construct an intuitive formalization of our preferences about populations that gives intuitive answers to a variety of possible problems, and besides resources aren’t fixed. See this post.