/ratanon/ - Rationalists Anonymous

Too bad I'm a causal decision theorist pleb who isn't going to bother voting.

 >>/6209/
I don't understand.

 >>/6211/
https://arxiv.org/abs/1710.05060
tl;dr:
Naive unenlightened causal decision makers will reason that their vote almost certainly won't make a difference so it isn't worth the effort.
Yudkowskian hyper-rationalist functional decision makers will reason that whatever decision they make will also be the decision made by all other Yudkowskian hyper-rationalist functional decision makers, so if they vote that means all of the fifteen other people who read the paper will vote, but if they don't vote then none of those other people will vote.
Hansonian econo-sociologist selfish-aware decision makers have long ago realized that there is only signals and the void and will vote not to influence the outcome of the elections but to get the status benefits of political engagement.

Too bad democracy is awful, immoral and self-destructive.

 >>/6212/
> status benefits of political engagement.
A secret ballot means you can just lie about voting.

democracy jpg
(186.06 KB, 1200x900)

 >>/6215/
Of course you can, but it's much easier to maintain a coherent natural impression if you believe it, and it's easier to believe it if you act it out.
Perhaps more importantly, you can be seen visiting the voting booth and having a sticker you got for it and all that, and if you're going through that trouble anyway then actually casting a vote doesn't carry an additional cost. You can hide what you voted, and thanks to blank votes it's technically possible to hide whether you voted, but that doesn't stop you from sending a credible signal that you voted.