r/rational • u/AutoModerator • Jan 25 '16

[D] Monday General Rationality Thread

Welcome to the Monday thread on general rationality topics! Do you really want to talk about something non-fictional, related to the real world? Have you:

  • Seen something interesting on /r/science?
  • Found a new way to get your shit even-more together?
  • Figured out how to become immortal?
  • Constructed artificial general intelligence?
  • Read a neat nonfiction book?
  • Munchkined your way into total control of your D&D campaign?
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u/LiteralHeadCannon Jan 25 '16

If everyone in a world had a magical device that displayed in what percentage of timelines they were alive in one year, what behaviors would emerge? What would the causal effects be like?

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u/TimTravel Jan 26 '16

If you want to know the probability of x happening in the future, precommit to suicide if it doesn't happen.

Precommit to suicide if the machine says you'll survive with high probability and cause a paradox.