What do you think about my counter-argument here, which I think is close, but not exactly of the form you describe: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/RrG8F9SsfpEk9P8yi/robin-hanson-s-grabby-aliens-model-explained-part-1?commentId=zTn8t2kWFHoXqA3Zc
To sum up “You say humans look weird according to this calculation and come up with a model which explains that, however that model makes humans look even more weird, so if the argument for the model being correct is that it reduces weirdness, that argument isn’t very strong.”
Thanks for making this post and video. It helped me understand the grabby aliens concept much better.
One nagging question.
I find myself as an individual in a non-grabby civilization. But, according to the grabby aliens model, the vast, vast preponderance of individuals will exist in huge, universe-spanning, grabby alien civilizations. And, using the style of argument used in the grabby aliens model, summed up by Steven Byrnes in his sibling comment:
This is incredibly unlikely, and must be explained, which seems like a weakness of the model.