Perhaps I’ve had one too many tonight, but this has been coursing through my head. I think I have an idea of what the answer might be but I’d like to have some other opinions on this.
Let’s say God, or a Genie, or whatever type of magical entity, decides to do you a favor. He will solve your problems in a way as to cut away part (but not all) of your uneasiness away. Better yet, He will do this as many times as you want, with the only requirement being that it must be a finite amount. As an additional consideration, let us assume He is capable of reading your mind once you have decided on an answer, such that any number of times takes the same resources to express.
The problem is, what number do you choose? For every number you can choose you can always choose one much, much higher, and you can only gain by choosing a higher one. By this logic you shouldn’t choose any of them.
One possible answer would be that the mental “If i choose number a number n in N, there is always a bigger number n+1” repeatedly causes some strain or disutility, so at some point you have to stop and choose the number. Another possibility would be to conclude that it is irrelevant which number you choose but it is not irrelevant whether you choose a number or not. So just for the sake of choosing a number you choose one randomly, since all of the numbers are not optimal.
Personally, I prefer the first option.
Edit: With a bit of calculus, Azures idea might sound like this.
Assume, you have an amount of disutility expressed as number d in R (real numbers). Further, let’s assume that there is the possibility to reduce this amount of disutility to 1/n of the previous amount with n in N (natural numbers) but not to 0. The choice of any n produces the same amount of disutility l in R. So the utility after choosing a specific number n is d/n+l. Which number do you choose? Keep in mind that to any number n chosen there is the equally expensive number but more disutility-reducing number n+1 with a disutility after choice of d/(n+1)+l.
Hope someone can find this useful. From point of calculus this function does not have a minimum, though it is alway bigger than l.
Edit2: This problem ultimately is the problem of calculating information. At which point is it not profitable to calculate a more profitable answer? If the Genie asks “What number do you choose?” the mere act of thinking “Hm, if i choose a number n, there is …” uses energy/utility. Though to every calculated number there is alway a better number it is required to calculate and thus use energy/utility to calculate the next number.
Thanks but this was the first thing I thought of: That’s why I added the additional complication. Just for the sake of mental exploration let’s assume the Genie takes inputs in a way such that any finite value takes the same amount of resources or disutility to express. I’m not sure how this could be physically done but then again I’m not sure how the Genie would work either.
One. Whenever you wish for something, wish for two more wishes first and use one wish for that something. You will still have one wish left. This process can be repeated as often as desired.