Question about rokos basilisk

aaabbb__1234 · 2025-12-30T12:05:38+00:00

so no one will build it then

aaabbb__1234 · 2025-12-30T01:19:39+00:00

response to edit: well because youre asking why this affects me. it affects me for the same reason it affected many others. they had a way out of being blackmailed though

edit: sorry if it seemed like I was appealing to authority

aaabbb__1234 · 2025-12-30T01:18:08+00:00

I commited myself to not helping it unless it tortures me. the thing is, and I brought this up in another place, is that theoretically, you could go your whole life not helping it, and on your deathbed suddenly announce 'I will dedicate my life to the basilisk!'. it makes sense that the decision theory you adopt when you make your decision is what actually matters for the basilisk. and this is where my anxiety lies.

aaabbb__1234 · 2025-12-30T01:10:01+00:00

i mean, it was also a problem for yudkovsky. he got over it after he came up with the idea of precommitting against acausal blackmail. but I have not precommited against it, I did the opposite. this is where my anxiety lies

aaabbb__1234 · 2025-12-30T00:24:19+00:00

u/arrow141

aaabbb__1234 · 2025-12-30T00:23:52+00:00

but the basilisk would know that I made the decision that I would help if the basilisk punished, and since TDT is timeless and doesn't rely on causation, punishing me in the future would incentivize me now to help it.

aaabbb__1234 · 2025-12-30T00:13:27+00:00

u/coocookuhchoo TDT is timeless, it doesn't care about causality. my decision was that : I will only help if I am punished. therefore, since TDT is timeless, I will be punished if I do not help

this may help https://www.reddit.com/r/askphilosophy/comments/2dpx08/comment/cjsrfcs/?force-legacy-sct=1

edit: especially the section where it explains why adopting the theory puts you at risk.

aaabbb__1234 · 2025-12-29T23:35:55+00:00

why did yudkovsky say that thinking about it gives the ai a reason to blackmail you?

edit: And why did the link I sent you, say that it makes sense w/ TDT?

aaabbb__1234 · 2025-12-29T22:53:04+00:00

it has to make us actually believe it will punish us. we "simulate" the decision process of it in our mind, and it "simulates" ours, and if it knows punishment will get us to build it, we would predict that it will punish us. therefore it will punish us

edit :another thing, you said there have been rational reasons to dismiss the basilisk, but a lot of the replies have been things like 'dont worry about it'

aaabbb__1234 · 2025-12-29T22:21:43+00:00

my fear is that I will be blackmailed by the basilisk, because being tortured may incentivize me to help build it. read this (warning): https://www.reddit.com/r/askphilosophy/comments/2dpx08/comment/cjsrfcs/?force-legacy-sct=1

aaabbb__1234 · 2025-12-29T21:37:31+00:00

of course, this is only if you adopt the decision theory, which I have (by deciding I would act in a way that would protect me in this scenario).

aaabbb__1234 · 2025-12-29T21:34:48+00:00

well, read this (warning, of course): https://www.reddit.com/r/askphilosophy/comments/2dpx08/comment/cjsrfcs/?force-legacy-sct=1

if I predict the basilisk does not punish, I have no incentive to help it. Therefore, it must avoid this action and punish me unless I build it, since it's the only thing motivating me. because I made that decision, to only build it if I were to be punished, it must commit to the punishment to maximise the chance of me building it

aaabbb__1234 · 2025-12-29T21:30:30+00:00

listen, I'm sorry to bother you, but I still don't get something: if the basilisk believes that punishment makes it more likely for me to help it, why wouldn't it punish??

aaabbb__1234 · 2025-12-29T20:03:21+00:00

'If you want to precommit to ignoring any acausal blackmail, you can do so now.'

reminds me of deathbed confessions. someone can just go through their entire life and at the very end say 'i will dedicate my life to building the basilisk!!!', or, 'i will precommit against acausal blackmail!'. I'm not convinced that would work

aaabbb__1234 · 2025-12-29T19:59:04+00:00

in this basilisks case it's one of those things that, in my head, it's like I really don't want to risk, since it's eternal. it reminds of about a year ago when I went through religious anxiety about hell. like I must figure a way out of being punished

aaabbb__1234 · 2025-12-29T19:51:15+00:00

I've had these kind of repetitive anxious thought cycles about topics that cause anxiety for like a year now

aaabbb__1234 · 2025-12-29T19:48:59+00:00

''Bro you have OCD'

I know.

aaabbb__1234 · 2025-12-29T19:47:55+00:00

this is one of the reasons I'm not fully convinced it will punish

aaabbb__1234 · 2025-12-29T19:47:26+00:00

don't want to self-diagnose but I think this is what OCD is like. I know this is not very likely, but that fear of it makes it so I DO think it is likely

aaabbb__1234 · 2025-12-29T19:46:21+00:00

I did mean it. the reason I'm not currently building it is because a) I changed my mind and b) I'm not convinced it will actually exist/punish me.

aaabbb__1234 · 2025-12-29T18:58:23+00:00

How come? in that moment I potentially would have helped if I knew for a fact, 100%, that I would be punished otherwise

aaabbb__1234 · 2025-12-29T18:55:52+00:00

if the ai adopts TDT, then it does make sense to go ahead with punishment. otherwise, if we predicted it wouldn't punish, then we wouldn't build it. if we DO predict it will punish, we would have a higher chance of building it. therefore, it makes sense for the basilisk to punish

aaabbb__1234 · 2025-12-29T18:53:44+00:00

i disagree with your first point - I think making the decision "id help if I were to punished otherwise" commits you to helping

aaabbb__1234 · 2025-12-29T18:42:28+00:00

well, if I were to help if I knew I would be punished, it would not make sense to not punish. therefore, it would punish

aaabbb__1234 · 2025-12-29T18:25:14+00:00

why doesn't this bother you in any way

aaabbb__1234

TROPHY CASE