People as paperclip maximisers (or bacteria in a petri dish)
Humans, the human species, operating unconsciously along the lines of their biological imperative—to reproduce, reproduce, reproduce—while providing so-called ‘rational’ justifications for that primitive imperative, like in this post, are essentially no different to Bostrom’s paperclip maximiser: planetary resources and energy shovelled in at one end, humans (and their attendant domesticated animals and crops) popping endlessly out at the other, until nothing else is left. Our DNA is like that badly designed AI algorithm. Or, to use a different metaphor: we are no better than bacteria, multiplying explosively on their petri dish, until all the food is gone and they drown in the poisonous sea of their own excretions. So we need to consciously evolve to change this mindless imperative if we are to BOTH preserve the planet for future generations AND expand into the stars. (The two are not mutually exclusive.)
See here for some interesting ideas on human cultural evolution:
People as paperclip maximisers (or bacteria in a petri dish)
Humans, the human species, operating unconsciously along the lines of their biological imperative—to reproduce, reproduce, reproduce—while providing so-called ‘rational’ justifications for that primitive imperative, like in this post, are essentially no different to Bostrom’s paperclip maximiser: planetary resources and energy shovelled in at one end, humans (and their attendant domesticated animals and crops) popping endlessly out at the other, until nothing else is left. Our DNA is like that badly designed AI algorithm. Or, to use a different metaphor: we are no better than bacteria, multiplying explosively on their petri dish, until all the food is gone and they drown in the poisonous sea of their own excretions. So we need to consciously evolve to change this mindless imperative if we are to BOTH preserve the planet for future generations AND expand into the stars. (The two are not mutually exclusive.)
See here for some interesting ideas on human cultural evolution:
https://timwaring.info/2024/03/05/in-defense-of-octavia-butlers-earthseed-destiny/
and here for a more academic treatment:
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rstb.2022.0259