The most extreme altruism can be seen as selfish, but inversely, the most extreme selfishness can also be seen as altruist: it depends on the viewpoint. We may think that Trump is selfish while closing the door to migrants for instance, but he doesn’t think so because this way, he is being altruist to the republicans, which is a bit selfish since he needs them to be reelected, but he doesn’t feel selfish himself. Selfishness is not about sentience since we can’t feel selfish, it is about defending what we are made of, or part of. Humanity holds together because we are all selfish, and because selfishness implies that the group will help us if we need it. Humanity itself is selfish when it wants to protect the environment, because it is for itself that it does so. The only way to feel guilty of having been selfish is after having weakened somebody from our own group, because then, we know we also weaken ourselves. With no punishment in view from our own group, no guiltiness can be felt, and no guiltiness can be felt either if the punishment comes from another group. That’s why torturers say that they don’t feel guilty.
I have a metaphor for your kind of morality: it’s like windows. It’s going to work when everything will have been taken into account, otherwise it’s going to freeze all the time like the first windows. The problem is that it might hurt people while freezing, but the risk might still be worthwhile. Like any other invention, the way to minimize the risk would be to proceed by small steps. I’m still curious about the possibility to build a selfish AGI though. I still think it could work. There would be some risks too, but they might not be more dangerous than with your’s. Have you tried to imagine what kind of programming would be needed? Such an AGI should behave like a good dictator: to avoid revolutions, he wouldn’t kill people just because they don’t think like him, he would look for a solution where everybody likes him. But how would he proceed exactly?
The main reason why politicians have opted for democracy is selfishness: they knew their turn would come if the other parties would respect the rule, and they new it was better for the country they were part of, so better for them too. But an AGI can’t leave the power to humans if he thinks it won’t work, so what if the system had two AGIs for instance, one with a tendency to try new things and one with a tendency not to change things, so that the people could vote for the one they want? It wouldn’t be exactly like democracy since there wouldn’t be any competition between the AGIs, but there could be parties for people to adhere and play the power game. I don’t like power games, but they seem to be necessary to create groups, and without groups, I’m not sure society would work.
The most extreme altruism can be seen as selfish, but inversely, the most extreme selfishness can also be seen as altruist: it depends on the viewpoint. We may think that Trump is selfish while closing the door to migrants for instance, but he doesn’t think so because this way, he is being altruist to the republicans, which is a bit selfish since he needs them to be reelected, but he doesn’t feel selfish himself. Selfishness is not about sentience since we can’t feel selfish, it is about defending what we are made of, or part of. Humanity holds together because we are all selfish, and because selfishness implies that the group will help us if we need it. Humanity itself is selfish when it wants to protect the environment, because it is for itself that it does so. The only way to feel guilty of having been selfish is after having weakened somebody from our own group, because then, we know we also weaken ourselves. With no punishment in view from our own group, no guiltiness can be felt, and no guiltiness can be felt either if the punishment comes from another group. That’s why torturers say that they don’t feel guilty.
I have a metaphor for your kind of morality: it’s like windows. It’s going to work when everything will have been taken into account, otherwise it’s going to freeze all the time like the first windows. The problem is that it might hurt people while freezing, but the risk might still be worthwhile. Like any other invention, the way to minimize the risk would be to proceed by small steps. I’m still curious about the possibility to build a selfish AGI though. I still think it could work. There would be some risks too, but they might not be more dangerous than with your’s. Have you tried to imagine what kind of programming would be needed? Such an AGI should behave like a good dictator: to avoid revolutions, he wouldn’t kill people just because they don’t think like him, he would look for a solution where everybody likes him. But how would he proceed exactly?
The main reason why politicians have opted for democracy is selfishness: they knew their turn would come if the other parties would respect the rule, and they new it was better for the country they were part of, so better for them too. But an AGI can’t leave the power to humans if he thinks it won’t work, so what if the system had two AGIs for instance, one with a tendency to try new things and one with a tendency not to change things, so that the people could vote for the one they want? It wouldn’t be exactly like democracy since there wouldn’t be any competition between the AGIs, but there could be parties for people to adhere and play the power game. I don’t like power games, but they seem to be necessary to create groups, and without groups, I’m not sure society would work.