In my visualization of the Cosmic All, it is not surprising. However, there is an undercurrent of the Singularity/AGI community that is somewhat apocaliptic in tone, and which (to my mind) seems to imply or assume that somebody will discover a Good Trick for self-improving AIs and the jig will be up with the very first one.
I happen to think it'll be a lot more like the Industrial Revolution -- it'll take a lot of work by a lot of people, but revolutionary in its implications for the human condition even so. I'm just trying to point out where I think some of the work will have to go. I think that our culture of self-indulgence is to some extent in a Nirvana attractor. If you think that's a good thing, why shouldn't we all lie around with wires in our pleasure centers (or hopped up on cocaine, same difference) with nutrient drips? I'm working on AGI because I want to build a machine that can solve problems I can't do alone. The really important problems are not driving cars, or managing companies, or even curing cancer, although building machines that can do these things will be of great benefit. The hard problems are moral ones, how to live in increasingly complex societies without killing each other, and so forth. That's why it matters that an AGI be morally self-improving as well as intellectually. pax vobiscum, Josh On Friday 13 June 2008 12:29:33 pm, Mark Waser wrote: > Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be. > -- Abraham Lincoln > > In our society, after a certain point where we've taken care of our > immediate needs, arguably we humans are and should be subject to the Nirvana > effect. > > Deciding that you can settle for something (if your subconscious truly can > handle it) definitely makes you more happy than not. > > If, like a machine, you had complete control over your subconscious/utility > functions, you *could* Nirvana yourself by happily accepting anything. > > This is why pleasure and lack of pain suck as goals. They are not goals, > they are status indicators. If you accept them as goals, nirvana is clearly > the fastest, cleanest, and most effective way to fulfill them. > > Why is this surprising or anything to debate about? > ------------------------------------------- agi Archives: http://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now RSS Feed: http://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/ Modify Your Subscription: http://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=8660244&id_secret=106510220-47b225 Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
