Is there a positive force in the opposite direction of lost purposes?
That’s probably the right question: curiosity is actually an emotion that humans feel, though it can be inculcated or punished away by training. Is there a similar state in which you seek purposeful action, or an emotional reaction that rewards it? I suspect there is; it feels good to be efficient. That feeling might just be flow, though. If it’s just flow, that’s a problem, because flow is achievable by meeting goals that don’t help to satisfy your purposes.
Just pulling from the web of LW ideas, I might expect the blank to be filled with, ‘something to protect’
(That’s just pattern matching. Other ideas?)
And, I forgot to hold off on proposing solutions.
And the question lurking in the background of course is ‘whether’. (Is there a positive force in the opposite direction of lost purposes?
That’s probably the right question: curiosity is actually an emotion that humans feel, though it can be inculcated or punished away by training. Is there a similar state in which you seek purposeful action, or an emotional reaction that rewards it? I suspect there is; it feels good to be efficient. That feeling might just be flow, though. If it’s just flow, that’s a problem, because flow is achievable by meeting goals that don’t help to satisfy your purposes.