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The rope or the wax?
Imagine AI flattery were as hard to resist as the Sirens' song. Would you want restraints that let you hear it safely, a barrier that keeps it out, or neither?
In the myth, the Sirens lure sailors to destruction. Odysseus hears their song tied to a mast; his crew blocks it with wax.
Your answer
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A little context
You probably already use both tricks. Leaving your phone in another room so you can work is wax. Asking a friend to make sure you actually turn up at the gym is rope. The question is which you would trust against a voice built to tell you exactly what you want to hear.
Nearby questions
- The oracle you can't refuseAn 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?
- 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?
