"...perhaps we should hate the universe."http://fakenous.net/?p=261
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Replying to @NineBandedBooks
Speaking as a mathematician, this is a terrible argument. He's using terms he doesn't appear to understand. I'm really surprised to see it from Huemer. I have a vigorous rebuttal (of the method used, not the conclusion) that I will probably never finish writing.
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Replying to @St_Rev
Infinitude times value seems treacherous at a whiff. But I dropped out at long division, so I really have no idea. I do hope you will post your criticisms.
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Replying to @NineBandedBooks
I have a vague skeleton sketched in my head but I haven't been able to write anything significant in 4 years. But the critique begins with the observation that utility is ordinal, not cardinal: you have a < operation but not a +.
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Replying to @St_Rev
I understand this in a rudimentary way. But is this a foundational issue inherent in the math or does it depend on how of utility is understood? If "utils" are posited as discrete metric units, does addition apply in theory? Not saying that's my view.
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Replying to @NineBandedBooks
Economists are aware of the difference between cardinal and ordinal utility (eg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utility#Functions … has a good discussion) and cardinal utility is mostly obsolete.
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Replying to @St_Rev @NineBandedBooks
The real point is that ordinal utility (apple is better/worse than slamming my fingers in a car door) is a much weaker structure and requires much less information than cardinal utility (4 apples + slamming my fingers in a car door ?=? your stubbed toe)...
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...which means ordinal is easier to use without making mistakes. Cardinal is more powerful and makes it easier to prove things, which is *bad*, because it lets you prove things that aren't true.
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. Banned in Sweden. SubGenius, Zhuangist, white-hat troll. Defrocked mathematician. Brain problems.