Fragile Purposes

This sequence abstracts from human cognition and evolution to the idea of minds and goal-directed systems at their most general. These essays serve the secondary purpose of explaining the author’s general approach to philosophy and the science of rationality, which is strongly informed by his work in AI.

Belief in Intelligence

Hu­mans in Funny Suits

Op­ti­miza­tion and the In­tel­li­gence Explosion

Ghosts in the Machine

Ar­tifi­cial Addition

Ter­mi­nal Values and In­stru­men­tal Values

Leaky Generalizations

The Hid­den Com­plex­ity of Wishes

An­thro­po­mor­phic Optimism

Lost Purposes