The dictum “you are an algorithm” clarifies some issues with other things reasoning about the agent, but deciding what to do depends on prior considerations, things like arguments, norms, contracts, facts, values, and also decision theories with their recommended actions or policies. As a result, asking about other instances of the agent (or other things reasoning about the agent) is less natural than asking about other instances of these prior considerations, or other things reasoning about the same prior considerations. These things are also more plentiful outside the agent than the instances of reasoning about the agent as a whole, establishing better grounding for acausal coordination. For example, true facts about the world are also found in the world itself, as it carries out its behavior according to such facts.
The dictum “you are an algorithm” clarifies some issues with other things reasoning about the agent, but deciding what to do depends on prior considerations, things like arguments, norms, contracts, facts, values, and also decision theories with their recommended actions or policies. As a result, asking about other instances of the agent (or other things reasoning about the agent) is less natural than asking about other instances of these prior considerations, or other things reasoning about the same prior considerations. These things are also more plentiful outside the agent than the instances of reasoning about the agent as a whole, establishing better grounding for acausal coordination. For example, true facts about the world are also found in the world itself, as it carries out its behavior according to such facts.