If the latter is implemented on Laplace’s Demon, and simply looks through all actions and picks the one with the highest approval, then I think it depends on how you’ve defined “approval.” If maximum approval could be bad (e.g. if approval is unbounded, or if it would take a lot of work to find a benign context where you always give it maximum approval), then this search process is searching for things that look like taking over the world.
But as we move away from Laplace’s demon, then I agree that realistic solutions look more like only manipulating TurnTrout and his immediate spatiotemporal surroundings.
If the latter is implemented on Laplace’s Demon, and simply looks through all actions and picks the one with the highest approval, then I think it depends on how you’ve defined “approval.” If maximum approval could be bad (e.g. if approval is unbounded, or if it would take a lot of work to find a benign context where you always give it maximum approval), then this search process is searching for things that look like taking over the world.
But as we move away from Laplace’s demon, then I agree that realistic solutions look more like only manipulating TurnTrout and his immediate spatiotemporal surroundings.