From: Robert J. Bradbury (bradbury@www.aeiveos.com)
Date: Wed Aug 11 1999 - 20:27:11 MDT
> Eliezer S. Yudkowsky <sentience@pobox.com> wrote:
> I think that adulthood, for the purposes of "informed consent", is a
> function of the ability to fully appreciate possible negative
> consequences. I therefore believe that "children" who have been through
> enough hell are capable of giving informed consent. Infants are a
> different question.
> http://pobox.com/~sentience/algernon_ethics.html
I did not want to raise this as part of the discussion. When and how
"informed consent" is able to be given is a very complex subject.
Whether someone with an IQ of 80 (of any age) can give informed
consent is an open question (to me). The degree to which anyone
can appreciate and assess "negative consequences" is presumably a
function of the "negative consequences" to which they have been
exposed in life. The quality of "imagination" varies from person
to person. One presumes, when giving "informed consent", there is
a risk-benefit tradeoff, so one has to have the capacity to balance
both the negative and positive outcomes and success may vary depending
on personal experiences.
I have no doubt Eliezer, that you could have given "informed consent"
when you were ~6. :-)
Robert
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