Upvoted because I like the analogy; it made me think about why I believe what I do about this point.
I would accept the offer, but I don’t find that inconsistent, for two reasons. First, the original post was asking whether the memory erasure makes up for the pain, which we’re still debating. You’re asking if the memory erasure AND an arbitrarily fat wad of cash make up for the pain, which may be less delicately balanced.
The better point is that I am not only the endpoint of my experiences. At some point, every moment in my life between the present one and death will be “now.” Considering a choice about potential pain which might occur in the future, I know that I will have to live through each of those moments, as they pass, and they will be very unpleasant. There may also be a lot more of them than there are happy, rich, pain-forgotten moments afterwards. That’s the kind of choice we’ve been discussing elsewhere in the thread, and that’s why I care about experiences I will have in the future even if they are forgotten later.
However, when Omega presents me with that choice, I am not choosing whether I will live through those moments. It’s a fait accompli. Regardless of my choice, I will not be aware of having been tortured; the only difference is whether I walk away with the wad of cash.
… assuming that having been tortured for 100 years really will have no lasting effects just because I don’t remember it. I’m making that assumption because I think it’s what you intend the problem imply; if this came up in real life I’d ask some questions about it before choosing. (If I were not allowed to do so, I would say no to be on the safe side.)
Upvoted because I like the analogy; it made me think about why I believe what I do about this point.
I would accept the offer, but I don’t find that inconsistent, for two reasons. First, the original post was asking whether the memory erasure makes up for the pain, which we’re still debating. You’re asking if the memory erasure AND an arbitrarily fat wad of cash make up for the pain, which may be less delicately balanced.
The better point is that I am not only the endpoint of my experiences. At some point, every moment in my life between the present one and death will be “now.” Considering a choice about potential pain which might occur in the future, I know that I will have to live through each of those moments, as they pass, and they will be very unpleasant. There may also be a lot more of them than there are happy, rich, pain-forgotten moments afterwards. That’s the kind of choice we’ve been discussing elsewhere in the thread, and that’s why I care about experiences I will have in the future even if they are forgotten later.
However, when Omega presents me with that choice, I am not choosing whether I will live through those moments. It’s a fait accompli. Regardless of my choice, I will not be aware of having been tortured; the only difference is whether I walk away with the wad of cash.
… assuming that having been tortured for 100 years really will have no lasting effects just because I don’t remember it. I’m making that assumption because I think it’s what you intend the problem imply; if this came up in real life I’d ask some questions about it before choosing. (If I were not allowed to do so, I would say no to be on the safe side.)