Decision-theory debate: do a billion teletransporter copies change your XOR blackmail choice?
Lasermazer · x · 2026-10-18
An X exchange on decision theory: @jessicata argues that problems like XOR blackmail and transparent Newcomb should start from a specified utility function—anything about caring for alternative selves follows from it and isn't a free parameter. @Lasermazer pushes back with a thought experiment: destructively scanned, copied a billion times into an XOR blackmail scenario, but with only one simulated copy created first to observe behavior—does the relative number of copies matter if the possibility of being simulated is what drives the choice?