Is there any plausible path to producing ℵ2 (or even ℵ1) amounts of value with the standard metaphysical picture of the world we have? Or are you thinking that we may discover that it is possible and so should aim to position ourselves to make that discovery?
Affecting ℵ1 (and ℵ2, assuming the continuum hypothesis is false, i.e. ℵ2≤|R|) utilities seems possible in a continuous spacetime universe with continuous quantum branching but counting and aggregating value discretely, indexing and distinguishing moral patients by branches (among other characteristics), of which there are |R|. I think continuity of the universe is still consistent with current physics, and the Planck scale is apparently not the lowest we can probe in particular (here’s a paper making this claim in its abstract and background in section 1; you can ignore the rest of the paper). Of course, a discrete universe is also still consistent with current physics, and conscious experiences and other things that matter are only practically distinguishable discretely, anyway.
I mostly have in mind trying to influence the probability (your subjective probability) that there will be ℵα moral patients at all under discrete counting or enough of their utilities that an aggregate you use, if any, will be different, and I don’t see any particular plausible paths to achieving this with the (or a) standard picture, but I am thinking “we may discover that it is possible and so should aim to position ourselves to make that discovery” and use it. I don’t have any particular ideas for affecting strictly more than |R| moral patients without moving away from the standard picture, either.
Is there any plausible path to producing ℵ2 (or even ℵ1) amounts of value with the standard metaphysical picture of the world we have? Or are you thinking that we may discover that it is possible and so should aim to position ourselves to make that discovery?
Affecting ℵ1 (and ℵ2, assuming the continuum hypothesis is false, i.e. ℵ2≤|R|) utilities seems possible in a continuous spacetime universe with continuous quantum branching but counting and aggregating value discretely, indexing and distinguishing moral patients by branches (among other characteristics), of which there are |R|. I think continuity of the universe is still consistent with current physics, and the Planck scale is apparently not the lowest we can probe in particular (here’s a paper making this claim in its abstract and background in section 1; you can ignore the rest of the paper). Of course, a discrete universe is also still consistent with current physics, and conscious experiences and other things that matter are only practically distinguishable discretely, anyway.
I mostly have in mind trying to influence the probability (your subjective probability) that there will be ℵα moral patients at all under discrete counting or enough of their utilities that an aggregate you use, if any, will be different, and I don’t see any particular plausible paths to achieving this with the (or a) standard picture, but I am thinking “we may discover that it is possible and so should aim to position ourselves to make that discovery” and use it. I don’t have any particular ideas for affecting strictly more than |R| moral patients without moving away from the standard picture, either.