I don’t know. The utility function measures outputs rather than inputs; the fiction case is confusing because the two are closely correlated (i.e. how much awesome fiction I consume is correlated with how much time I spend consuming awesome fiction).
For your solution to make sense, we’d need some definition of “time devoted to a particular cause” that we can then manage in our utility function. For example, if parts of your brain are contemplating some ethical problem while you’re busy doing something else, does that count as time devoted?
It seems doable though. I don’t think it’s the solution to infinite ethics but it seems like you could conceive of an agent behaving that way while still being considered rational and altruistic.
I don’t know. The utility function measures outputs rather than inputs; the fiction case is confusing because the two are closely correlated (i.e. how much awesome fiction I consume is correlated with how much time I spend consuming awesome fiction).
For your solution to make sense, we’d need some definition of “time devoted to a particular cause” that we can then manage in our utility function. For example, if parts of your brain are contemplating some ethical problem while you’re busy doing something else, does that count as time devoted?
It seems doable though. I don’t think it’s the solution to infinite ethics but it seems like you could conceive of an agent behaving that way while still being considered rational and altruistic.