On 3/3/07, Charles D Hixson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Yes, I see no valid argument asserting that this is not a simulation fiction that some other entity is experiencing. And there's no guarantee that sometime soon he won't "put down the book". But this assumption yields no valid guide as to how I should act, so I ignore the possibility.
I doubt that is your only reason for ignoring the possibility. For one thing, it is quite simple to construct a scenario where (if plausible) it does yield a valid guide as to how to act. We can, for instance, just arbitrarily specify further details such as that the entity reading it will "put down the book" unless you do something surprising to keep his attention such as streak naked down your street. (Even with the scenario as you specified it, you might think it does yield a guide to how to act: Be interesting so they don't shut down the simulation.) Now, I think there is no sound deductive argument that this particular scenario is not the case. And it would provide a valid guide as to how to act, yet I'm betting that you ignore this possibility. Why? Because you judge on inductive grounds that while possible, it is very improbable. It doesn't explain much and adds on ad hoc assumptions that don't cohere well with your observations or even the rest of the theory. You make these sorts of judgments all the time, and I would add, quite rationally so. -Ku http://www.umich.edu/~jsku ----- This list is sponsored by AGIRI: http://www.agiri.org/email To unsubscribe or change your options, please go to: http://v2.listbox.com/member/?list_id=11983
