The aligned genie thought experiment
The nature of the heart’s desire
You know the setup already: you rub a lamp or bottle and release a genie, who grants you three wishes.
The classical constraints apply. You may not ask recursively for extra wishes, you may not ask for immortality, and the genie isn’t omnipotent — it does not rearrange the whole universe or its trillions of parallels, it’s merely a very capable ghost that can reshape matter at a sub-molecular level.
One more thing: you may not make trivial wishes, like “get me a club sandwich right now”, it must be your heart’s ardent true desire.
Now, for this thought experiment, the special setup is that the genie is benevolent and accommodating, in the sense that:
- It works for your goals, it doesn’t work against you, none of that monkey paw business, no gotchas; and
- It’s generous and makes it easier for you, for example, you don’t have to fuss about what constitutes a singular wish, as long as the changes fall within a coherent theme
Alright then, what would be those themes? What would be your heart’s desire?
Digression: What is it like to have wishes? To desire things be a different way? Throughout millennia of human existence, wishes have been compelled by one emergency or another. A man wandering through the desert desires a fresh spring. If you could upload consciousness like software, then why not just get stuck in a small loop of ecstasy forever? It’s only the context of necessity that gives some significance to the objects of wishes. What are wishes when you’re no longer Nature’s bitch, no longer a misery-automaton?
Back to the topic, my hypothesis is that, to have wishes is to want to change those things not within our control. In Epictetus’ examples, such things as one’s body, property, and social esteem.
Along these lines the thought experiment continues. First, let’s wish for a different body inside and out, more fit, more attractive, not just smarter but like having a “Limitless” brain, always knowing exactly what to do. Then, wish for a lot of wealth, a beautiful home not the least, but generally worldly resources that can multiple the power of your wishes and ideas. Thirdly, wish for the gods to place a halo behind your head, so that wherever you go you find yourself trusted and admired, great success rises from nowhere to meet your next step.
Okay, where is this going? It should be quite clear by now, that the result of fulfilling these wishes is someone who has no continuity with the current self. It’s someone who looks different, in a totally different house, different environment, and is regarded by all external ties as a very different person.
Whoever that person is, is no longer you.
Therefore: one’s most fundamental wishes are synonymous with wishing for the self not to exist in any recognisable form. The strongest desire is the desire not to be. Todestrieb is the basic drive.
