My model of (my) learning is that if the goal is sufficiently far, learning directly towards the goal is goodharting a likely wrong metric.
The only method which worked for me for very distant goals is following my curiosity and continuously internalizing new info, such that the curiosity is well informed about current state and the goal.
Curiosity is certainly a powerful tool for learning! I think any learning system which isn’t taking advantage of it is sub-optimal. Learning should be guided by curiosity.
The thing is, sometimes we need to learn things we aren’t so curious about. One insight I Iearned from studying learning is that you can do specific things to make yourself more curious about a given thing and harness the power that comes with curiosity.
Ultimately, what this looks like is to write down questions about the topic and use them to guide your curious learning process. It seems that this is how efficient top students end up learning things deeply in a shorter amount of time. Even for material they care little about, they are able to make themselves curious and be propelled forward by that.
That said, my guess is that goodharting the wrong metric can definitely be an issue, but I’m not convinced that relying on what makes you naturally curious is the optimal strategy for solving alignment. Either way, it’s something to think about!
By the way, I’ve just added a link to a video by a top competitive programmer on how to learn hard concepts. In the video and in the iCanStudy course, both talk about the concept of caring about what you are learning (basically, curiosity). Gaining the skill to care and become curious is an essential part of the most effective learning. However, contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to be completely guided by what makes you naturally curious! You can learn how to become curious (or care) about any random concept.
My model of (my) learning is that if the goal is sufficiently far, learning directly towards the goal is goodharting a likely wrong metric.
The only method which worked for me for very distant goals is following my curiosity and continuously internalizing new info, such that the curiosity is well informed about current state and the goal.
Curiosity is certainly a powerful tool for learning! I think any learning system which isn’t taking advantage of it is sub-optimal. Learning should be guided by curiosity.
The thing is, sometimes we need to learn things we aren’t so curious about. One insight I Iearned from studying learning is that you can do specific things to make yourself more curious about a given thing and harness the power that comes with curiosity.
Ultimately, what this looks like is to write down questions about the topic and use them to guide your curious learning process. It seems that this is how efficient top students end up learning things deeply in a shorter amount of time. Even for material they care little about, they are able to make themselves curious and be propelled forward by that.
That said, my guess is that goodharting the wrong metric can definitely be an issue, but I’m not convinced that relying on what makes you naturally curious is the optimal strategy for solving alignment. Either way, it’s something to think about!
By the way, I’ve just added a link to a video by a top competitive programmer on how to learn hard concepts. In the video and in the iCanStudy course, both talk about the concept of caring about what you are learning (basically, curiosity). Gaining the skill to care and become curious is an essential part of the most effective learning. However, contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to be completely guided by what makes you naturally curious! You can learn how to become curious (or care) about any random concept.