Why must the power structure cycle be adaptive? I mean, couldn’t it simply be non-maladaptive?
Because if the net effect on human fitness is zero, then perhaps it’s just a quirk. I’m not sure how this affects your argument otherwise, I’m just curious as to why you think it was an adaptive pattern and not just a pattern that didn’t kill us at too high a rate.
Eliezer, are you asking if we think universal boredom is a worse fate than world suffering? ;) How terribly emo of you.
Also, you seem to be describe pleasure and pain as a sliding scale- moving towards pleasure means moving away from pain. But there are already humans where that isn’t the case, where pain bleeds into pleasure. People whose humiliation makes them proud, whose submission gives them control. Do they sound bored to you? (That brief foray into BDSM was incredibly simplistic. Naughty boy.)