Opening page…
The oracle you can't refuse
An oracle exists that always gives the wisest possible answer to any decision — which city, which job, whom to marry. It has never once been wrong. How much of your life do you hand it?
Perfect advice puts the value of choosing for yourself under pressure.
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A little context
You already hand pieces of your life to advice you can't check: the map that picks your route, the friend whose read on people you trust more than your own. This oracle is that, perfected. It is never wrong. The question is where, if anywhere, you would stop listening.
Nearby questions
- Do you have free will?Your genes, your upbringing and the laws of nature were all in place before you chose anything. The choice still felt like yours.
- Can you know what's right and still not do it?Socrates held that nobody does wrong knowingly, so anyone who does must not really know. Everyone who has broken a promise to themselves has doubts.
- If you've done nothing wrong, should you mind being watched?The argument sounds airtight until you picture every message, search and place you've been, laid out for the people who know you.
- Predicted before you choseIf a system can predict what you will choose before you know it yourself, is the choice still yours?
- Should the law protect you from your own bad choices?Mill argued that the only reason to restrain someone against their will is to prevent harm to others. Seatbelt laws, sugar taxes and drug bans all disagree.
