[ExI] insanity plea

John Clark johnkclark at gmail.com
Wed Feb 27 18:17:28 UTC 2013


On Tue, Feb 26, 2013 at 7:12 PM, Anders Sandberg <anders at aleph.se> wrote:

 > If I was chasing after you because you owed me money, then it is a
> matter for the justice system: I had a reason
>

Yes.


> > If I was chasing after you because I believed that you were a leprechaun
> who stole my name, then that is evidence that my reality checking is broken
> and it is a matter for the hospital.


In both cases it was not random and there was a reason you were chasing me
with a bloody ax, but in this case your reality checking system is so badly
broken that you are far more dangerous and more likely to kill again then
if you just did it because I owed you money, and so in a rational world the
leprechaun believing guy would be punished more severely not less as it is
today.

> Nobody says that delusional people have a real choice
>

Talk to me about people who do have "a real choice", explain to me how
their minds work; did something cause that choice, was their a reason for
it or was it random? I think there are few words that contain more useless
metaphysical gunk than the word "choice".


> > they do not update their beliefs when given clear evidence against them
>

People who "update their beliefs when given clear evidence against them"
are the way they are for a reason or they are the way they are for no
reason. And People who do NOT "update their beliefs when given clear
evidence against them" are the way they are for a reason or they are the
way they are for no reason. So why is one person responsible for their
actions and the other not?

  John K Clark
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