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 Originally Posted by NightGizmo
Trying a different approach.... Do you value your life, and do you value continuing to live beyond this moment? (I'm going to assume you answer "yes"). Once your life ends, that value drops to 0 -- by definition, there is nothing left to value. So going from "alive" to "dead" means that the value goes down. So, you have to include that loss in that 1% chance of losing when you press the button. Isn't that exactly why you wouldn't press the button? Because you value your life too much to risk it on a gamble?
One more comment -- you can assign a value to a conditional future event, even if that future event is "I will no longer exist, and thus not be able to value anything anymore." The EV of dying is negative-a-lot, because it's expected value -- it's the value you are using to make a decision. Which assumes that you're alive right now to make that decision, and basing that decision on how things are valued to you, at that moment.
I don't know if I'm explaining it well (or if I'm even right) -- but I'm enjoying the discussion 
You can't carry any value beyond the grave.
When you die, the value doesn't drop to zero.
There is not such thing as value.
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