/lit/ - Literature

>>11423046
Couple of problems with your question.

First, eternities don't end (because they go on forever; that's what makes them eternities), so Donald never leaves hell.

Second, there is no paradox, he just spends all eternity in hell.

The problem is this: At each deal, Donald is suffering for the promise of a future reward. But if he takes these deals forever, he never gets his reward. On the other hand, if he stops taking the deals at some point, he spends a finite amount of time in heaven, which will be less time than he could have spent in heaven if he spent another day in hell. So if he never leaves hell, he suffers without reward; but if he ever leaves hell, he gets less reward than he could have gotten.

In effect, the "rational" thing to do keeps Donald suffering forever. This is a recurring problem in decision theory —see also the tragedy of the commons and the dollar auction [pic related, but admittedly not the best] —which indicates that rational decision making, in some circumstances, just won't cut it. Which wouldn't be a problem for the layperson, but aggravates the hell out of a decision theorist, because the whole point of decision theory is to figure out how to get rational decision-making to "work."