I agree with most of this, but I think you’re typical-minding when you assume that successionists are using this to resolve their own fear or sadness surrounding AI progress. I think instead, they mostly never seriously consider the downsides because of things like the progress heuristic. They never experience the fear or sadness you refer to in the first place. For them, it is not “painful to think about” as you describe.
I agree with most of this, but I think you’re typical-minding when you assume that successionists are using this to resolve their own fear or sadness surrounding AI progress. I think instead, they mostly never seriously consider the downsides because of things like the progress heuristic. They never experience the fear or sadness you refer to in the first place. For them, it is not “painful to think about” as you describe.