From: Eliezer S. Yudkowsky (sentience@pobox.com)
Date: Mon Feb 10 2003 - 23:12:21 MST
Lee Corbin wrote:
>
> Isn't the following true? Some patients experiencing
> unbearable pain are given control of a wire into their
> pleasure center, with instructions to press it whenever
> the pain becomes absolutely intolerable, but only then.
> The patients report that they are restored to a state
> of normalcy, with the evidently incredible pleasure
> balancing the incredible pain. For some reason, this
> subjective result doesn't surprise me---why shouldn't
> our brains be capable of such subconscious integration?
>
> (What I have never understood about this result, however,
> is how it comes to pass that the patient doesn't try the
> button ever more often, ending up as addicted as one of
> Larry Niven's "wireheads", or one of those rats who forego
> as long as they live food, drink, and sex in favor of
> pressing the button.)
I've never heard of this result. Got ref?
-- Eliezer S. Yudkowsky http://singinst.org/ Research Fellow, Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence
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