your future self is a separate person. If we imagine the argument targeting any other person, it’s horrible—it states that should lock them into some state that ensures they’re forced to serve your (current) interests
Surely this proves too much? Any decision with long-term consequences is going to bind your future self. Having kids forces your future self onto a specific path (parenthood) just as much as relocating to an EA hub does.
I guess in general any decision binds all future people in your lightcone to some counterfactual set of consequences. But it still seems practically useful in interpersonal interactions to distinction a) between those that deliberately restrict their action set/​those that just provide them in expectation with a different access set of ~the same size, and b) between those motivated by indifference/​those motivated specifically by an authoritarian desire to make their values more consistently with ours.
Seems like a reasonable distinction—but also not sure how many people move to an EA hub expressly because it binds their future self to do EA work/​be in said hub long-term?
Well, between relocating and having kids, one of those decisions is far more irreversible so should be more carefully made. It’s one of those rare one-way doors, and you won’t pass through many of those over your life.
Surely this proves too much? Any decision with long-term consequences is going to bind your future self. Having kids forces your future self onto a specific path (parenthood) just as much as relocating to an EA hub does.
I guess in general any decision binds all future people in your lightcone to some counterfactual set of consequences. But it still seems practically useful in interpersonal interactions to distinction a) between those that deliberately restrict their action set/​those that just provide them in expectation with a different access set of ~the same size, and b) between those motivated by indifference/​those motivated specifically by an authoritarian desire to make their values more consistently with ours.
Seems like a reasonable distinction—but also not sure how many people move to an EA hub expressly because it binds their future self to do EA work/​be in said hub long-term?
Well, between relocating and having kids, one of those decisions is far more irreversible so should be more carefully made. It’s one of those rare one-way doors, and you won’t pass through many of those over your life.