I fully agree with the gist of this post. Empowerment, as you define it, is both a very important factor in my own utility function, and seems to be an integral component to any formulation of fun theory. In your words, “to transcend mortality and biology, to become a substrate independent mind, to wear new bodies like clothes” describes my terminal goals for a thousand years into the future so smack-dab perfectly that I don’t think I could’ve possibly put it any better. Empowerment is, yes, an instrumental goal for all the options it creates, but also an end in itself, because the state of being empowered itself is just plain fun and relieving and great all around! Not only does this sort of empowerment provide an unlimited potential to be parlayed into enjoyment of all sorts, it lifts the everyday worries of modern life off our shoulders completely, if taken as far as it can be. I could effectively sum up the main reason I’m a transhumanist as seeking empowerment, for myself and for humanity as a whole.
I would add one caveat, however, for me personally: the best kind of empowerment is self-empowerment. Power earned through conquest is infinitely sweeter than power that’s just given to you. If my ultimate goals of transcending mortality and such were just low-hanging fruit, I can’t say I’d be nearly as obsessed with them in particular as I am. To analogize this to something like a video game, it feels way better to barely scrape out a win under some insane challenge condition that wasn’t even supposed to be possible, than to rip through everything effortlessly by taking the free noob powerup that makes you invincible. I don’t know how broadly this sentiment generalizes exactly, but I certainly haven’t found it to be unpopular. None of that is to say I’m opposed to global empowerment by means of AI or whatever else, but there must always be something left for us to individually strive for. If that is lost, there isn’t much difference left between life and death.
I fully agree with the gist of this post. Empowerment, as you define it, is both a very important factor in my own utility function, and seems to be an integral component to any formulation of fun theory. In your words, “to transcend mortality and biology, to become a substrate independent mind, to wear new bodies like clothes” describes my terminal goals for a thousand years into the future so smack-dab perfectly that I don’t think I could’ve possibly put it any better. Empowerment is, yes, an instrumental goal for all the options it creates, but also an end in itself, because the state of being empowered itself is just plain fun and relieving and great all around! Not only does this sort of empowerment provide an unlimited potential to be parlayed into enjoyment of all sorts, it lifts the everyday worries of modern life off our shoulders completely, if taken as far as it can be. I could effectively sum up the main reason I’m a transhumanist as seeking empowerment, for myself and for humanity as a whole.
I would add one caveat, however, for me personally: the best kind of empowerment is self-empowerment. Power earned through conquest is infinitely sweeter than power that’s just given to you. If my ultimate goals of transcending mortality and such were just low-hanging fruit, I can’t say I’d be nearly as obsessed with them in particular as I am. To analogize this to something like a video game, it feels way better to barely scrape out a win under some insane challenge condition that wasn’t even supposed to be possible, than to rip through everything effortlessly by taking the free noob powerup that makes you invincible. I don’t know how broadly this sentiment generalizes exactly, but I certainly haven’t found it to be unpopular. None of that is to say I’m opposed to global empowerment by means of AI or whatever else, but there must always be something left for us to individually strive for. If that is lost, there isn’t much difference left between life and death.