Yeah, totally a contextual call about how to make this point in any given conversation, it can be easy to get bogged down with irrelevant context.
I do think it’s true that utilitarian thought tends to push one towards centralization and central planning, despite the bad track record here. It’s worth engaging with thoughtful critiques of EA vibes on this front.
Salaries are the most basic way our economy does allocation, and one possible “EA government utopia” scenario is one where the government corrects market inefficiencies such that salaries perfectly track “value added to the world.” This is deeply sci-fi of course, but hey why not dream. In such a utopia world, if we really did reach the point where marginal safety researchers are not adding more value than marginal post office workers, salaries would presumably change as well.
Yeah, totally a contextual call about how to make this point in any given conversation, it can be easy to get bogged down with irrelevant context.
I do think it’s true that utilitarian thought tends to push one towards centralization and central planning, despite the bad track record here. It’s worth engaging with thoughtful critiques of EA vibes on this front.
Salaries are the most basic way our economy does allocation, and one possible “EA government utopia” scenario is one where the government corrects market inefficiencies such that salaries perfectly track “value added to the world.” This is deeply sci-fi of course, but hey why not dream. In such a utopia world, if we really did reach the point where marginal safety researchers are not adding more value than marginal post office workers, salaries would presumably change as well.