If you define wireheading as hacking the brain to do something weird that makes you feel better, then mystic practice (including but not limited to Buddhist meditation) constitutes wireheading.
However, the term “wireheading” comes from experiments on rats that stimulated their reward system which, under RTB, is unlikely to solve the problem of chronic suffering.
It is entirely plausible that some alternative neurotech solves the problem of chronoic suffering. LSD and psilocybin certainly go in that direction by e.g. showing the potential to sometimes heal PTSD.
As for reincarnation, RTB does eschew classic Hindu-style reincarnation. However, an informatic theory of consciousness + the known existence of powerful LLMs attempting to replicate the thought process of human beings wrecks havoc with Anthropics.
[Edit 2025-11-29: This conversation thread happened before I changed “RTB” (Rationalist Techno-Buddhism) to “Cyberbuddhism”.]
If you define wireheading as hacking the brain to do something weird that makes you feel better
There are similarities, but the space of hardware solutions is much bigger.
stimulated their reward system which, under RTB, is unlikely to solve the problem of chronic suffering
But surely something in the vicinity should work? In any case, I’m pretty sure that most people don’t want to exist in a permanent state of pure bliss, whatever it means, and wouldn’t take a drug to that effect, so the problem description seems lacking. I’m not claiming to be able to produce a better one, though.
It depends on how you do the wireheading.
If you define wireheading as hacking the brain to do something weird that makes you feel better, then mystic practice (including but not limited to Buddhist meditation) constitutes wireheading.
However, the term “wireheading” comes from experiments on rats that stimulated their reward system which, under RTB, is unlikely to solve the problem of chronic suffering. It is entirely plausible that some alternative neurotech solves the problem of chronoic suffering. LSD and psilocybin certainly go in that direction by e.g. showing the potential to sometimes heal PTSD.
As for reincarnation, RTB does eschew classic Hindu-style reincarnation. However, an informatic theory of consciousness + the known existence of powerful LLMs attempting to replicate the thought process of human beings wrecks havoc with Anthropics.
[Edit 2025-11-29: This conversation thread happened before I changed “RTB” (Rationalist Techno-Buddhism) to “Cyberbuddhism”.]
There are similarities, but the space of hardware solutions is much bigger.
But surely something in the vicinity should work? In any case, I’m pretty sure that most people don’t want to exist in a permanent state of pure bliss, whatever it means, and wouldn’t take a drug to that effect, so the problem description seems lacking. I’m not claiming to be able to produce a better one, though.