If you don’t think so, try a counterfactual mugging on everyday people, and then try it at a LessWrong meeting. Which group do you think will be more likely to come out ahead, in this practical example?
The Less Wrong meeting, of course. I’m no Omega, but I’m smart enough to predict none of the regular people will take the deal, and most of the Less Wrongers will. That means I won’t give any money to any everyday people, but after the coin flip I’ll be handing out a whole bunch of suitcases with $10000 to the Less Wrongers (while also collecting a few hundred dollar bills). The average person in the Less Wrong meeting will come out $4950 richer than the person on the street.
If you mean I should do the second part, the part where I take the money, but not the first part, then it’s no longer a counterfactual mugging. Then it’s just me lying to people in a particularly weird way. The Less Wrongers might do worse on the completely unrelated problem of whether they believe weird lies, but I don’t see much evidence for this.
The Less Wrong meeting, of course. I’m no Omega, but I’m smart enough to predict none of the regular people will take the deal, and most of the Less Wrongers will. That means I won’t give any money to any everyday people, but after the coin flip I’ll be handing out a whole bunch of suitcases with $10000 to the Less Wrongers (while also collecting a few hundred dollar bills). The average person in the Less Wrong meeting will come out $4950 richer than the person on the street.
If you mean I should do the second part, the part where I take the money, but not the first part, then it’s no longer a counterfactual mugging. Then it’s just me lying to people in a particularly weird way. The Less Wrongers might do worse on the completely unrelated problem of whether they believe weird lies, but I don’t see much evidence for this.