Okay, so let’s zoom in here. What is preferable?
Torturing 1 person for 60 seconds
Torturing 100 person for 59 seconds
Torturing 10000 person for 58 seconds
etc.
Kind of a paradox of the heap. How many seconds of torture are still torture?
And 10^30 is really a lot of people. That’s what Eliezer meant with “scope insensitivity”. And all of them would be really grateful if you spared them their second of pain. Could be worth a minute of pain?
Yes, and right after that he goes on:
...and seems not to notice that he himself has never questioned the beliefs with which he grew up?
The talk about quantum mechanics was nice for non-mathy laymen, although it barely scratches the surface. After reading the quantum physics sequence here, I sometimes like to try out stuff like this and compare them to it.
I would not try to use “addiction” as an explanation. I just liked the comparison between trying to get somebody to change a long-held belief and trying to get him to stop smoking.