[SEQ RERUN] The Third Alternative

Today’s post, The Third Alternative was originally published on May 6, 2007. A summary (from the LW wiki):

People justify Noble Lies by pointing out their benefits over doing nothing. But, if you really need these benefits, you can construct a Third Alternative for getting them. How? You have to search for one. Beware the temptation not to search or to search perfunctorily. Ask yourself, “Did I spend five minutes by the clock trying hard to think of a better alternative?”


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This post is part of a series rerunning Eliezer Yudkowsky’s old posts so those interested can (re-)read and discuss them. The previous post was Beware the Unsurprised, and you can use the sequence_reruns tag or rss feed to follow the rest of the series.

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