Bad Things Are Bad: A Short List of Common Views Among EAs
No, we should not sterilize people against their will.
No, we should not murder AI researchers. Murder is generally bad. Martyrs are generally effective. Executing complicated plans is generally more difficult than you think, particularly if failure means getting arrested and massive amounts of bad publicity.
Sex and power are very complicated. If you have a power relationship, consider if you should also have a sexual one. Consider very carefully if you have an power relationship: many forms of power relationship are invisible, or at least transparent, to the person with power. Common forms of power include age, money, social connections, professional connections, and almost anything that correlates with money (race, gender, etc). Some of these will be more important than others. If you’re concerned about something, talk to a friend who’s on the other side of that from you. If you don’t have any, maybe just don’t.
And yes, also, don’t assault people.
Sometimes deregulation is harmful. “More capitalism” is not the solution to every problem.
Very few people in wild animal suffering think that we should go and deliberately destroy the biosphere today.
Racism continues to be an incredibly negative force in the world. Anti-black racism seems pretty clearly the most harmful form of racism for the minority of the world that lives outside Asia.[1]
Much of the world is inadequate and in need of fixing. That EAs have not prioritized something does not mean that it is fine: it means we’re busy.
The enumeration in the list, of certain bad things, being construed to deny or disparage other things also being bad, would be bad.
Hope that clears everything up. I expect with 90% confidence that over 90% of EAs would agree with every item on this list.
Inside, I don’t know enough to say with confidence. Could be caste discrimination, could be ongoing oppression of non-Han, could be something I’m not thinking of. I’m not making a claim about the globe as a whole because I haven’t run the numbers, and different EAs will have different values and approaches to how to weight history, cultures, etc. I just refuse to fall into the standard America/Euro-centric framework.
No, we should not murder AI researchers. Working together requires ability to trust one another. Hurting AI researchers will just damage this trust and likely not slow down the work. Likewise, if you are the sort of person who thinks you should do this, you are likely uniquely unsuited to coming up with drastic solutions. Have you tried a research agenda? If not, why did you start at murder. We are all more likely to survive if we can credibly commit not to defect. Please get help.
Bad Things Are Bad: A Short List of Common Views Among EAs
No, we should not sterilize people against their will.
No, we should not murder AI researchers. Murder is generally bad. Martyrs are generally effective. Executing complicated plans is generally more difficult than you think, particularly if failure means getting arrested and massive amounts of bad publicity.
Sex and power are very complicated. If you have a power relationship, consider if you should also have a sexual one. Consider very carefully if you have an power relationship: many forms of power relationship are invisible, or at least transparent, to the person with power. Common forms of power include age, money, social connections, professional connections, and almost anything that correlates with money (race, gender, etc). Some of these will be more important than others. If you’re concerned about something, talk to a friend who’s on the other side of that from you. If you don’t have any, maybe just don’t.
And yes, also, don’t assault people.
Sometimes deregulation is harmful. “More capitalism” is not the solution to every problem.
Very few people in wild animal suffering think that we should go and deliberately destroy the biosphere today.
Racism continues to be an incredibly negative force in the world. Anti-black racism seems pretty clearly the most harmful form of racism for the minority of the world that lives outside Asia.[1]
Much of the world is inadequate and in need of fixing. That EAs have not prioritized something does not mean that it is fine: it means we’re busy.
The enumeration in the list, of certain bad things, being construed to deny or disparage other things also being bad, would be bad.
Hope that clears everything up. I expect with 90% confidence that over 90% of EAs would agree with every item on this list.
Inside, I don’t know enough to say with confidence. Could be caste discrimination, could be ongoing oppression of non-Han, could be something I’m not thinking of. I’m not making a claim about the globe as a whole because I haven’t run the numbers, and different EAs will have different values and approaches to how to weight history, cultures, etc. I just refuse to fall into the standard America/Euro-centric framework.
I might change 2 to:
No, we should not murder AI researchers. Working together requires ability to trust one another. Hurting AI researchers will just damage this trust and likely not slow down the work. Likewise, if you are the sort of person who thinks you should do this, you are likely uniquely unsuited to coming up with drastic solutions. Have you tried a research agenda? If not, why did you start at murder. We are all more likely to survive if we can credibly commit not to defect. Please get help.
I’m concerned that less than 90% of the AI safety community would agree. I have heard some disturbing anecdotes.