I think it’s worth making the distinction between reward hacking, pleasure wireheading, and addiction more clearly. There’s some overlap, but these are different concepts with different implications for our utility.
The whole ideological subtext reeks with puritan moralism. You imply that we exist to make humanity’s future bigger, rather than to do whatever the hell we actually prefer.
As long as pleasure wireheading is consensual, you longtermists can simply forgo your own pleasure wireheading and instead work very hard on the whole growth and reproduction agenda. However, we are not slaves owned by you who owe you labor and financial support for that agenda. If you can’t find enough people willing to forgo consensual pleasure-wireheading to build the future you want to build, consider that it may be an indicator that people don’t actually see your agenda as worth supporting.
Personally, I’d gladly take a drug that eliminates all my suffering and doubles all my pleasure, even if it drastically reduced my life expectancy. Mere existence isn’t everything.
I agree with your general thrust except your statement that “you longtermists can simply forgo your own pleasure wireheading and instead work very hard on the whole growth and reproduction agenda” if we are able to wirehead in an effective manner it might be morally obligatory to force them into wireheading to maximize utility.
if we are able to wirehead in an effective manner it might be morally obligatory to force them into wireheading to maximize utility.
Not interested in this kind of “moral obligation”. If you want to be a hedonistic utilitarian, use your own capacity and consent-based cooperation for it.
I think it’s worth making the distinction between reward hacking, pleasure wireheading, and addiction more clearly. There’s some overlap, but these are different concepts with different implications for our utility.
The whole ideological subtext reeks with puritan moralism. You imply that we exist to make humanity’s future bigger, rather than to do whatever the hell we actually prefer.
As long as pleasure wireheading is consensual, you longtermists can simply forgo your own pleasure wireheading and instead work very hard on the whole growth and reproduction agenda. However, we are not slaves owned by you who owe you labor and financial support for that agenda. If you can’t find enough people willing to forgo consensual pleasure-wireheading to build the future you want to build, consider that it may be an indicator that people don’t actually see your agenda as worth supporting.
Personally, I’d gladly take a drug that eliminates all my suffering and doubles all my pleasure, even if it drastically reduced my life expectancy. Mere existence isn’t everything.
I agree with your general thrust except your statement that “you longtermists can simply forgo your own pleasure wireheading and instead work very hard on the whole growth and reproduction agenda” if we are able to wirehead in an effective manner it might be morally obligatory to force them into wireheading to maximize utility.
Not interested in this kind of “moral obligation”. If you want to be a hedonistic utilitarian, use your own capacity and consent-based cooperation for it.