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0 pointsstcredzero7y ago0 comments

Wait, what? So, anyone who wants to have a job must emulate the habits of some of the most impressive people in history? Wow.

Isn't that how a lot of human progress works? The scientific viewpoint was once a pastime of educated elites. Now the world model derived from it is very much mainstream. (Though it isn't 100% universal) Reading, writing, and arithmetic were once elite and esoteric specialist skills, now they are basic requirements.

Mercy, humanitarianism, and individual rights are all fairly recent innovations in human history.

I don’t know if that’s true or hyperbole, but if that’s what workers think, we are in for a scary future.

Or a fantastic one.

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petra7y ago· 1 in thread

Viewpoints and skills are teachable, although that can take a lot of effort.

But habits ? depending on what habits are we talking about, some are highly related to personality, to willpower, to interpersonal skills,etc and those are really hard to change, or maybe impossible, for some.

And if aim so high in changing human beings, is this the best we can do ? to create better money making machines ? And what will that do to our old values - stuff like kindness, family values, creativity for it's own sake ?

And will it even work ? Or is being an Elon Musk copy will just become a requirement for working as a barista ?

stcredzeroOP7y ago

is this the best we can do? to create better money making machines?

Of course not. The best AI we could possibly create wouldn't be a paperclip optimizer. Presumably, there could be another AI who would realize and say, Let's not go to Camelot. It is a silly place.

And what will that do to our old values - stuff like kindness, family values, creativity for it's own sake?

Actually, that's also along the lines of not being a paperclip optimizer. Some people are way too obsessed with sex. There will always be others who will realize that's a bit imbalanced, and decide not to be like that. There will always be people who ask, "Is that all? Is there nothing more?" That, or we'll die out sooner than we should. In other words, if the human mind is really that bounded and limited, some problem of our own making is going to kill us off.

Or is being an Elon Musk copy will just become a requirement for working as a barista ?

Didn't being a [famous hacker here] clone become a requirement for working as a programmer in the Bay Area? Aren't there towns where all of the baristas have scripts they're working on?

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