The character was just asked whether they would wish to conquer the world if given a wish-granting machine (and are saying no, they already have what they want and value). The way I understood the quote was that when people talk about ruling the world they really just want to control and protect the things they value around them. It made me think that “the world” isn’t really a concept that people can easily grasp in the abstract, they need to look at the smaller scale to give them context.
I think “I want to protect humanity” or “I want to save the world” carry more weight and are easier to follow through on if you come at them from the angle of “I want to protect people like the people around me I love” or “I want to save the place where people like my friends and family live”.
I’m not sure I follow even with that explanation, but I’ve never really known what to make of the Nasuverse in the first place. (“This is so awesome!” “But also incredibly stupid.” “But awesome!” “But stupid. And ad hoc. And ill-thought-out.” “Aw, don’t be like that, just enjoy the Rule of Cool.”)
The character was just asked whether they would wish to conquer the world if given a wish-granting machine (and are saying no, they already have what they want and value).
I imagine Eliezer would answer something like “No, that would be redundant.” (Edit: not to credit Eliezer with inventing the concept.)
The character was just asked whether they would wish to conquer the world if given a wish-granting machine (and are saying no, they already have what they want and value). The way I understood the quote was that when people talk about ruling the world they really just want to control and protect the things they value around them. It made me think that “the world” isn’t really a concept that people can easily grasp in the abstract, they need to look at the smaller scale to give them context.
I think “I want to protect humanity” or “I want to save the world” carry more weight and are easier to follow through on if you come at them from the angle of “I want to protect people like the people around me I love” or “I want to save the place where people like my friends and family live”.
I’m not sure I follow even with that explanation, but I’ve never really known what to make of the Nasuverse in the first place. (“This is so awesome!” “But also incredibly stupid.” “But awesome!” “But stupid. And ad hoc. And ill-thought-out.” “Aw, don’t be like that, just enjoy the Rule of Cool.”)
I imagine Eliezer would answer something like “No, that would be redundant.” (Edit: not to credit Eliezer with inventing the concept.)