I also think well-being is not the ideal metric for what type of development would reduce x-risk either. When I mention the Gross Nation Happiness metric this is just one measure currently being used which actually includes things like good governance and environmental impact among many other things. My point was that growth in GDP is a poor measure of success and that creating a better metric of success might be a crucial step in improving the current system. I think a measure which attempts to quantify some of the things you mention would be wonderful to include in such a metric and would get the world thinking about how to improve those things. GNH is just one step better IMO than just seeking to maximize economic return. For more on GNH: https://ophi.org.uk/policy/national-policy/gross-national-happiness-index/
Oh, ok. I knew of “gross national happiness” as (1) a thing the Bhutan government talked about, and (2) a thing some people mention as more important than GDP without talking precisely about how GNH is measured or what the consequences of more GNH vs more GDP would be. (Those people were primarily social science teachers and textbook authors, from when I taught high school social science.)
I wasn’t aware GNH had been conceptualised in a way that includes things quite distinct from happiness itself. I don’t think the people I’d previously heard about it from were aware of that either. Knowing that makes me think GNH is more likely to be a useful metric for x-risk reduction, or at least that it’s in the right direction, as you suggest.
At the same time, I feel that, in that case, GNH is quite a misleading term. (I’d say similar about the Happy Planet Index.) But that’s a bit of a tangent, and not your fault (assuming you didn’t moonlight as the king of Bhutan in 1979).
I also think well-being is not the ideal metric for what type of development would reduce x-risk either. When I mention the Gross Nation Happiness metric this is just one measure currently being used which actually includes things like good governance and environmental impact among many other things. My point was that growth in GDP is a poor measure of success and that creating a better metric of success might be a crucial step in improving the current system. I think a measure which attempts to quantify some of the things you mention would be wonderful to include in such a metric and would get the world thinking about how to improve those things. GNH is just one step better IMO than just seeking to maximize economic return. For more on GNH: https://ophi.org.uk/policy/national-policy/gross-national-happiness-index/
Oh, ok. I knew of “gross national happiness” as (1) a thing the Bhutan government talked about, and (2) a thing some people mention as more important than GDP without talking precisely about how GNH is measured or what the consequences of more GNH vs more GDP would be. (Those people were primarily social science teachers and textbook authors, from when I taught high school social science.)
I wasn’t aware GNH had been conceptualised in a way that includes things quite distinct from happiness itself. I don’t think the people I’d previously heard about it from were aware of that either. Knowing that makes me think GNH is more likely to be a useful metric for x-risk reduction, or at least that it’s in the right direction, as you suggest.
At the same time, I feel that, in that case, GNH is quite a misleading term. (I’d say similar about the Happy Planet Index.) But that’s a bit of a tangent, and not your fault (assuming you didn’t moonlight as the king of Bhutan in 1979).