I pointed, in an offhand, and somewhat off target, way a couple of posts ago to
If you have any interest in actually thinking about ethics, this story is one of the most important things you will read. It’s not just amusing, not just instructive, it’s actually important.
I will frankly confess I am intellectually so out of shape I’m having trouble just following the story, much less working through the implications myself. You should see if you fare better.
Even if you cannot predict the outcome, or come up with what you believe to be a better solution than what Yudkowsky (and his readers) proposes, it’s worth the exercise.
Go. Read. Make your brain sweat.
In comments, Yudkowsky says he “I keep wondering myself about the ethics of writing illustrative fiction. So far I’m coming out on the net positive side, especially after Robin’s post on Near versus Far thinking. But it does seem to put more of a strain on how much you trust the author – both their honesty and their intelligence.”
Fair warning. What he’s saying here, I think, is that the act of story telling itself imposes a bias — exactly what his website is dedicated to overcoming.