You can literally try to find out how bad people feel. Do x-riskers feel bad? Do people feel worse once they get convinced AI x-risk is a thing, or better once they get convinced it isn’t?
This is the PANAS test, a simple mood inventory that’s a standard psychological instrument. If you don’t trust self-report, you can use heart rate or heart rate variability, which most smartwatches will measure.
Now, to some degree, there’s a confounding thing where people like you (very interested in exercise and psychology) might feel better than someone who doesn’t have that focus, and all things equal maybe people who focus on x-risk are less likely to focus on exercise/meditation/circling/etc.
So the other thing is, if people who believe in x-risk take up a mental/physical health practice, you can ask if it makes them feel better, and also if it makes them more likely to stop believing in x-risk.
I love this direction of inquiry. It’s tricky to get right because of lots of confounds. But I think something like it should be doable.
I love that this is a space where people care about this stuff.
I’m poorly suited to actually carry out these examinations on my own. But if someone does, or if someone wants to lead the charge and would like me to help design the study, I’d love to hear about it!
You can literally try to find out how bad people feel. Do x-riskers feel bad? Do people feel worse once they get convinced AI x-risk is a thing, or better once they get convinced it isn’t?
This is the PANAS test, a simple mood inventory that’s a standard psychological instrument. If you don’t trust self-report, you can use heart rate or heart rate variability, which most smartwatches will measure.
Now, to some degree, there’s a confounding thing where people like you (very interested in exercise and psychology) might feel better than someone who doesn’t have that focus, and all things equal maybe people who focus on x-risk are less likely to focus on exercise/meditation/circling/etc.
So the other thing is, if people who believe in x-risk take up a mental/physical health practice, you can ask if it makes them feel better, and also if it makes them more likely to stop believing in x-risk.
I love this direction of inquiry. It’s tricky to get right because of lots of confounds. But I think something like it should be doable.
I love that this is a space where people care about this stuff.
I’m poorly suited to actually carry out these examinations on my own. But if someone does, or if someone wants to lead the charge and would like me to help design the study, I’d love to hear about it!