This is more reliable than you think. We live in a world where money is convertible to further a very wide range of values.
It doesn’t have to be money. You just need a value that you have no reason to expect will change significantly as a result of exposure to particular ‘dangerous thoughts’. Can you honestly say that you expect exposing yourself to information about sex differences in intelligence will radically alter the relative value of money to you though?
Escrow is the general name for a good way to guarantee that your future self will be bound by your precommitment. Depending on how much money is involved this could be as informal as asking a trusted friend who shares your current values to hold some money for a specified period and promise to donate it to a charity promoting the value you fear may be at risk if they judge you to have abandoned that value.
The whole point of precommitment is that you have leverage over your future self. You can make arrangements of cost and complexity up to the limit your current self values the matter of concern and impose a much greater penalty on your future self in case of breach of contract.
Ultimately I don’t believe this is your true rejection. If you wished you could find ways to make credible precommitments to your current values and then undergo controlled exposure to ‘dangerous thoughts’ but you choose not to. That may be a valid choice from a cost/benefit analysis by your current values but it is not because the alternative is impossible, it is just too expensive for your tastes.
This is more reliable than you think. We live in a world where money is convertible to further a very wide range of values.
It doesn’t have to be money. You just need a value that you have no reason to expect will change significantly as a result of exposure to particular ‘dangerous thoughts’. Can you honestly say that you expect exposing yourself to information about sex differences in intelligence will radically alter the relative value of money to you though?
Escrow is the general name for a good way to guarantee that your future self will be bound by your precommitment. Depending on how much money is involved this could be as informal as asking a trusted friend who shares your current values to hold some money for a specified period and promise to donate it to a charity promoting the value you fear may be at risk if they judge you to have abandoned that value.
The whole point of precommitment is that you have leverage over your future self. You can make arrangements of cost and complexity up to the limit your current self values the matter of concern and impose a much greater penalty on your future self in case of breach of contract.
Ultimately I don’t believe this is your true rejection. If you wished you could find ways to make credible precommitments to your current values and then undergo controlled exposure to ‘dangerous thoughts’ but you choose not to. That may be a valid choice from a cost/benefit analysis by your current values but it is not because the alternative is impossible, it is just too expensive for your tastes.