Well, human brains are about three times the mass of chimp brains, diverged from our most recent common ancestor with chimps about 6 million years ago, and have evolved a lot of distinctive new adaptations such as language, pedagogy, virtue signaling, art, music, humor, etc. So we might not want to put too much emphasis on cumulative cultural change as the key explanation for human/chimp differences.
Oh totally (and you probably know much more about this than me). I guess the key thing I’m challenging is the idea that there was something like a very fast transfer of power resulting just from upgraded computing power moving from chimp-ancestor brain → human brain (a natural FOOM), which the discussion sometimes suggests. My understanding is that it’s more like the new adaptations allowed for cumulative cultural change, which allowed for more power.
Psychology/anthropology:
The misleading human-chimp analogy: AI will stand in relation to us the same way we stand in relation to chimps. I think this analogy basically ignores how humans have actually developed knowledge and power—not by rapid individual brain changes, but by slow, cumulative cultural changes. In turn, the analogy may lead us to make incorrect predictions about AI scenarios.
Well, human brains are about three times the mass of chimp brains, diverged from our most recent common ancestor with chimps about 6 million years ago, and have evolved a lot of distinctive new adaptations such as language, pedagogy, virtue signaling, art, music, humor, etc. So we might not want to put too much emphasis on cumulative cultural change as the key explanation for human/chimp differences.
Oh totally (and you probably know much more about this than me). I guess the key thing I’m challenging is the idea that there was something like a very fast transfer of power resulting just from upgraded computing power moving from chimp-ancestor brain → human brain (a natural FOOM), which the discussion sometimes suggests. My understanding is that it’s more like the new adaptations allowed for cumulative cultural change, which allowed for more power.