I am not an anxious person, by default. Quite the opposite, perhaps I am usually too calm and more anxiety/neuroticism would be a directional improvement. But I too have often been worried by AI, for many years, many a time. Some of it is prosaic: by misfortune of birth, I had to rely on very hard work and cognitive labor to earn the right to stay in a significantly richer, safer country. If my labor becomes obsolete, I have a very real chance of being kicked out and sent back to a country where everyone else is in the same boat that is simultaneously on fire and sinking. This mostly applies to automation-induced unemployment, but I actually need my employment at present, and see no promises that I will be looked after through UBI.
And of course, the risk of everyone dying. More scary, in objective terms, but also not something I can do much about personally. I can try and save money and get citizenship elsewhere while I have the time and runway, but what am I going to do about getting paperclipped?
Within psychiatry, we have a less than perfectly polite term-of-art, which is more likely to be heard in the mess than the clinic: “Shit Life Syndrome”.
“I wanted to diagnose this patient with depression and promise that antidepressants will help, but he told me his wife left him and took the kids, and that she’s suing for the house. He’s been fired from his job, and has now been diagnosed with possibly terminal cancer. Clear case of SLS, if I was in his shoes I’d be depressed too.”
That is the problem. Sometimes there really is reason to worry. But if it does get to the point where it is maladaptive, it might be possible to seek help. Pragmatically, if you think you’re going to die soon, would you rather spend your remaining time curled up in a ball shivering, or doing the things you love while you still have the time?
I’ve once had someone pay me specifically for therapy because of Singularity-induced anxiety, but that was mostly because talking about things helps, not because I can solve the original problem. Both Pagliacci and his doctor are worried about losing their jobs. The latter is not sure if he’s the even bigger clown.
My general advice is that you should do your best not to think about it (easier said than done), and if that doesn’t work, try and sublimate your effort into working hard or just doing something you find productive/enjoyable. If it gets unbearable, then I genuinely ask that you keep the option of medical help in mind. Good luck, I think there are many other people feeling as we do, and that that number will only increase. But things could go well, and we might get a glorious transhumanist utopia too! There is not literally zero upside or things to look forward to, at least from my perspective.
I am not an anxious person, by default. Quite the opposite, perhaps I am usually too calm and more anxiety/neuroticism would be a directional improvement. But I too have often been worried by AI, for many years, many a time. Some of it is prosaic: by misfortune of birth, I had to rely on very hard work and cognitive labor to earn the right to stay in a significantly richer, safer country. If my labor becomes obsolete, I have a very real chance of being kicked out and sent back to a country where everyone else is in the same boat that is simultaneously on fire and sinking. This mostly applies to automation-induced unemployment, but I actually need my employment at present, and see no promises that I will be looked after through UBI.
And of course, the risk of everyone dying. More scary, in objective terms, but also not something I can do much about personally. I can try and save money and get citizenship elsewhere while I have the time and runway, but what am I going to do about getting paperclipped?
Within psychiatry, we have a less than perfectly polite term-of-art, which is more likely to be heard in the mess than the clinic: “Shit Life Syndrome”.
“I wanted to diagnose this patient with depression and promise that antidepressants will help, but he told me his wife left him and took the kids, and that she’s suing for the house. He’s been fired from his job, and has now been diagnosed with possibly terminal cancer. Clear case of SLS, if I was in his shoes I’d be depressed too.”
That is the problem. Sometimes there really is reason to worry. But if it does get to the point where it is maladaptive, it might be possible to seek help. Pragmatically, if you think you’re going to die soon, would you rather spend your remaining time curled up in a ball shivering, or doing the things you love while you still have the time?
I’ve once had someone pay me specifically for therapy because of Singularity-induced anxiety, but that was mostly because talking about things helps, not because I can solve the original problem. Both Pagliacci and his doctor are worried about losing their jobs. The latter is not sure if he’s the even bigger clown.
My general advice is that you should do your best not to think about it (easier said than done), and if that doesn’t work, try and sublimate your effort into working hard or just doing something you find productive/enjoyable. If it gets unbearable, then I genuinely ask that you keep the option of medical help in mind. Good luck, I think there are many other people feeling as we do, and that that number will only increase. But things could go well, and we might get a glorious transhumanist utopia too! There is not literally zero upside or things to look forward to, at least from my perspective.