The scout does not tell the general about the bluejays he saw. He reports the number of bombers in the enemy’s hangar.
Number of enemy bombers seems more relevant than number of bluejays for predicting most far-future variables to me? E.g. who will control the land, how much damage there will be to existing things in the area, etc.. Maybe it’s because I’m not an ornithologist so I don’t know anything about bluejays. But I’d think humans tend to be the dominant force in influencing an area with bluejays exerting only negligible influence.
This implies that you care about things like “who owns the land”, “are the buildings intact”, et cetera. The information you care about leaks information about your values.
“Who owns the land” has influences on many far away variables, as those who own the land can implent policies about what to do with the land. Similarly, “Are the buildings intact?” has influences on many far away variables, because it determines whether the people who live on the land continue to live on the land, and people who live in a place are the ones who influence the place the most.
If I wanted to understand the long-term future of an area that was currently at war, I’d want to know the information relevant for who wins the war and how destructive the war is, as that has a lot of effects. Meanwhile I don’t know of any major effects of bluejays.
Number of enemy bombers seems more relevant than number of bluejays for predicting most far-future variables to me? E.g. who will control the land, how much damage there will be to existing things in the area, etc.. Maybe it’s because I’m not an ornithologist so I don’t know anything about bluejays. But I’d think humans tend to be the dominant force in influencing an area with bluejays exerting only negligible influence.
This implies that you care about things like “who owns the land”, “are the buildings intact”, et cetera. The information you care about leaks information about your values.
“Who owns the land” has influences on many far away variables, as those who own the land can implent policies about what to do with the land. Similarly, “Are the buildings intact?” has influences on many far away variables, because it determines whether the people who live on the land continue to live on the land, and people who live in a place are the ones who influence the place the most.
If I wanted to understand the long-term future of an area that was currently at war, I’d want to know the information relevant for who wins the war and how destructive the war is, as that has a lot of effects. Meanwhile I don’t know of any major effects of bluejays.