@tom: I think Eli’s argument is that a caring universe isn’t necessary for happiness. If he thought that the universe should stay uncaring, he wouldn’t be trying to develop FAI.
hmmm. First off, I’d like to distinguish between a universe where a “caring” structure is built on top of an uncaring physical reality (e.g. this universe, where the caring structure might be modern society, or a future utopia powered by a FAI), and a universe where the caring-ness, magic or/and importance of human conscious minds is inbuilt at the lowest level of “physics”; an example of this would be a world where magic worked (automatically, without study) or where prayer worked. I’d still like to hear Eliezer suggest whether or not, if he were given a choice of possible universes, he would choose a “magical”, “essentialist” universe or a materialist universe (fairly clearly the materialist one is the one we live in).
I have my own ideas as to why the materialist universe is actually the better of the two, but I want to see whether anyone else has thought along the same lines, because I want to know whether I am baising my thoughts in order to feel happy about the universe I live in.
@tom: I think Eli’s argument is that a caring universe isn’t necessary for happiness. If he thought that the universe should stay uncaring, he wouldn’t be trying to develop FAI.
hmmm. First off, I’d like to distinguish between a universe where a “caring” structure is built on top of an uncaring physical reality (e.g. this universe, where the caring structure might be modern society, or a future utopia powered by a FAI), and a universe where the caring-ness, magic or/and importance of human conscious minds is inbuilt at the lowest level of “physics”; an example of this would be a world where magic worked (automatically, without study) or where prayer worked. I’d still like to hear Eliezer suggest whether or not, if he were given a choice of possible universes, he would choose a “magical”, “essentialist” universe or a materialist universe (fairly clearly the materialist one is the one we live in).
I have my own ideas as to why the materialist universe is actually the better of the two, but I want to see whether anyone else has thought along the same lines, because I want to know whether I am baising my thoughts in order to feel happy about the universe I live in.