> [!claim] > Whenever we say "ancestor simulation" we're referring to something... detailed(?) enough for its denizens to be moral patients. I mean, I think I'm a moral patient? I sure *hope* I am. If ancestor simulations were sufficiently bad or entailed risks that were sufficiently bad... > [!Claim] Reasons ancestor sims might be bad > - S-risks > - Strong negative utilitarianism seems true > - Running some kinds of experiments > - Risks of failing to consider moral patienthood in ancestor simulation > - Temptation to "torment" ancestors or otherwise negatively intervene in ways not covered under "experiments" > - Risks of proliferation of any of the above (analogous to problems with open sourcing strong AI systems) ...then *I* would certainly *consider* (at a minimum) signing on to ban ancestor simulations. I can imagine people with other values feeling similarly, so I should expect with some probability that ancestor simulations are banned by (some? all?) civilisations. That means there are less "copies" of me in expectation, so I should downweight the chance I'm in a simulation rather than basement reality.