The strongest argument that an upload would share our values is that our terminal values are hardwired by evolution. Self-preservation is common to all non-eusocial creatures, curiosity to all creatures with enough intelligence to benefit from it. Sexual desire is (more or less) universal in sexually reproducing species, desire for social relationships is universal in social species. I find it hard to believe that a million years of evolution would change our values that much when we share many of our core values with the dinosaurs. If maiasaura can have recognizable relationships 76 million years ago, are those going out the window in the next million? It’s not impossible, of course, but shouldn’t it seem pretty unlikely?
I think the difference between us is that you are looking at instrumental values, noting correctly that those are likely to change unrecognizably, and fearing that that means that all values will change and be lost. Are you troubled by instrumental values shifts, even if the terminal values stay the same? Alternatively, is there a reason you think that terminal values will be affected?
I think an example here is important to avoid confusion. Consider Western Secular sexual morals vs Islamic ones. At first glance, they couldn’t seem more different. One side is having casual sex without a second thought, the other is suppressing desire with full-body burqas and genital mutilation. Different terminal values, right? And if there can be that much of a difference between two cultures in today’s world, with the Islamic model seeming so evil, surely values drift will make the future beyond monstrous!
Except that the underlying thoughts behind the two models aren’t as different as you might think. A Westerner having casual sex knows that effective birth control and STD countermeasures means that the act is fairly safe. A sixth century Arab doesn’t have birth control and knows little of STDs beyond that they preferentially strike the promiscuous-desire is suddenly very dangerous! A woman sleeping around with modern safeguards is just a normal, healthy person doing what they want without harming anyone; one doing so in the ancient world is a potential enemy willing to expose you to cuckoldry and disease. The same basic desires we have to avoid cuckoldry and sickness motivated them to create the horrors of Shari’a.
None of this is intended to excuse Islamic barbarism. Even in the sixth century, such atrocities were a cure worse than the disease. But it’s worth noting that their values are a mistake much more than a terminal disagreement. They’re thinking of sex as dangerous because it was dangerous for 99% of human history, and “sex is bad” is easier meme to remember and pass on than “sex is dangerous because of pregnancy risks and disease risks, but if at some point in the future technology should be created that alleviates the risks, then it won’t be so dangerous”, especially for a culture to which such technology would seem an impossible dream.
That’s what I mean by terminal values-the things we want for their own sake, like both health and pleasure, which are all too easy to confuse with the often misguided ways we seek them. As technology improves, we should be able to get better at clearing away the mistakes, which should lead to a better world by our own values, at least once we realize where we were going wrong.
It’s an evolved predisposition, but does that make it a terminal value? We like sweet foods, but a world that had no sweet foods because we’d figured out something else that tasted better doesn’t sound half bad! We have an evolved predisposition to sleep, but if we learned how to eliminate the need for sleep, wouldn’t that be even better?
Sexual desire is (more or less) universal in sexually reproducing species
Uploads are not sexually reproducing. This is only one of many many ways in which an upload is more different from you, than you are different from a dinosaur.
Whether regular evolution would drift away from our values ir more dubious. If we lived in caves for all that time, then probably not. But if we stayed at current levels of technology, even without making progress, I think a lot could change. The pressures of living in a civilization are not the same as the pressures of living in a cave.
Are you troubled by instrumental values shifts, even if the terminal values stay the same?
No, I’m talking about terminal values. By the way, I understood what you meant by “terminal” and “instrumental” here, you didn’t need to write those 4 paragraphs of explanation.
The strongest argument that an upload would share our values is that our terminal values are hardwired by evolution. Self-preservation is common to all non-eusocial creatures, curiosity to all creatures with enough intelligence to benefit from it. Sexual desire is (more or less) universal in sexually reproducing species, desire for social relationships is universal in social species. I find it hard to believe that a million years of evolution would change our values that much when we share many of our core values with the dinosaurs. If maiasaura can have recognizable relationships 76 million years ago, are those going out the window in the next million? It’s not impossible, of course, but shouldn’t it seem pretty unlikely?
I think the difference between us is that you are looking at instrumental values, noting correctly that those are likely to change unrecognizably, and fearing that that means that all values will change and be lost. Are you troubled by instrumental values shifts, even if the terminal values stay the same? Alternatively, is there a reason you think that terminal values will be affected?
I think an example here is important to avoid confusion. Consider Western Secular sexual morals vs Islamic ones. At first glance, they couldn’t seem more different. One side is having casual sex without a second thought, the other is suppressing desire with full-body burqas and genital mutilation. Different terminal values, right? And if there can be that much of a difference between two cultures in today’s world, with the Islamic model seeming so evil, surely values drift will make the future beyond monstrous!
Except that the underlying thoughts behind the two models aren’t as different as you might think. A Westerner having casual sex knows that effective birth control and STD countermeasures means that the act is fairly safe. A sixth century Arab doesn’t have birth control and knows little of STDs beyond that they preferentially strike the promiscuous-desire is suddenly very dangerous! A woman sleeping around with modern safeguards is just a normal, healthy person doing what they want without harming anyone; one doing so in the ancient world is a potential enemy willing to expose you to cuckoldry and disease. The same basic desires we have to avoid cuckoldry and sickness motivated them to create the horrors of Shari’a.
None of this is intended to excuse Islamic barbarism. Even in the sixth century, such atrocities were a cure worse than the disease. But it’s worth noting that their values are a mistake much more than a terminal disagreement. They’re thinking of sex as dangerous because it was dangerous for 99% of human history, and “sex is bad” is easier meme to remember and pass on than “sex is dangerous because of pregnancy risks and disease risks, but if at some point in the future technology should be created that alleviates the risks, then it won’t be so dangerous”, especially for a culture to which such technology would seem an impossible dream.
That’s what I mean by terminal values-the things we want for their own sake, like both health and pleasure, which are all too easy to confuse with the often misguided ways we seek them. As technology improves, we should be able to get better at clearing away the mistakes, which should lead to a better world by our own values, at least once we realize where we were going wrong.
Counterpoint: would you be okay with a future civilization in which people got rid of the incest taboo, because technology made it safe?
Yes. I wouldn’t be surprised if this happened in fact.
Incest aversion seems to be an evolved predisposition, perhaps a “terminal value” akin to a preference for sweet foods...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westermarck_effect
It’s an evolved predisposition, but does that make it a terminal value? We like sweet foods, but a world that had no sweet foods because we’d figured out something else that tasted better doesn’t sound half bad! We have an evolved predisposition to sleep, but if we learned how to eliminate the need for sleep, wouldn’t that be even better?
Uploads are not sexually reproducing. This is only one of many many ways in which an upload is more different from you, than you are different from a dinosaur.
Whether regular evolution would drift away from our values ir more dubious. If we lived in caves for all that time, then probably not. But if we stayed at current levels of technology, even without making progress, I think a lot could change. The pressures of living in a civilization are not the same as the pressures of living in a cave.
No, I’m talking about terminal values. By the way, I understood what you meant by “terminal” and “instrumental” here, you didn’t need to write those 4 paragraphs of explanation.