[dm2]

TL,DR: Here is the thought experiment, 4th paragraph after 3 long paragraphs of stuff I didn't want to read.

"What if, in the future, a somewhat malevolent AI were to come about and punish those who did not do its bidding? What if there were a way (and I will explain how) for this AI to punish people today who are not helping it come into existence later? In that case, weren’t the readers of LessWrong right then being given the choice of either helping that evil AI come into existence or being condemned to suffer?"

I don't think it's that interesting of a thought experiment, there are dozens of much more insightful and thought-provoking ones out there.

Search for "best thought experiments" on Google if you want some cool things to think about. It might be taboo to mention but weed will make thought experiments really fun, in my opinion.

[resdirector]

OT but IMO it's such a huge cost to the economy (and humanity) that marijuana is still taboo. The thought experiments that you describe, for me at least, are not only fun, but more often than not lead to practical, wealth-generating breakthroughs. I assume I'm not the only one.

I hope one day historians and economists will study the lost opportunity costs of the prohibition / taboo nature of marijuana.

[dm2]

Richard Feynman, Carl Sagan, Bill Gates, Bill Clinton, Richard Branson and thousands of other top minds would agree with what you said. I don't think anyone would actually disagree and be able to provide a valid reason.

Politics, money, religion, and several other irrelevant factors keep it highly illegal.

It even has come to the point where states are ignoring federal law, so progress is happening thankfully.

Changing the leadership of the DEA would be helpful. Remove guns from the DEA and require them to use the FBI or local SWAT if a crime is bad enough to warrant a raid. "They might flush the evidence" is not a good enough reason to raid good peoples houses and suppress something that does far more good than harm. How many people have died from marijuana and how many people have died from a marijuana related DEA raid? Which is really more harmful to the country? Money seized should go towards public education, not directly to the law-enforcement agencies.

Is it off topic? We are talking about thought-experiments here, and your experience is normal for anyone with even a slightly scientific mind.

[Shivetya]

Uh, SWAT teams are already making drug raids. That is what happened recently in Atlanta where they did a no knock warrant and flash banged an infant in his crib.

If anything we need to remove SWAT teams from existence as well as no knock warrants for any charge short of murder.

[dm2]

I completely agree. I had heard of the incident you mentioned but it's not the first time that near exact situation has happened and I didn't realize it was just this year.

http://rt.com/usa/swat-billings-burns-fasching-312/

http://www.policestateusa.com/2014/swat-throws-grenade-in-pl...

My comment was mainly referring to large organized crime or violent gangs that would warrant a SWAT team. I've seen SWAT called in for college students because an undercover smelled marijuana. Who were they trying to help? The students that wanted marijuana? Didn't we learn our lessons about prohibition 90 years ago?

[resdirector]

As the world slowly moves to a knowledge and innovation economy as opposed to a hard-graft economy of the last few millennia, I think we'll see a tipping point. Those with money/power will be increasingly made up of pro-legalization advocates.

I'd be surprised if there isn't full legalization in the US within the next twenty years. And books with titles such as: "How To Expand Your Business And Increase Your Revenue Through The Power Of Marijuana" on the best-seller list.

[GFischer]

Well, my country (Uruguay) fully legalized marijuana, and in other countries it's decriminalized, which IMO signals a wider shift in policy .

Many things which my country adopted early (usually copying progressive European countries) ended up spreading, for example women suffrage which was adopted by the U.S. half a decade later.