“My guess is that people who are concluding P(Doom) is high will each need to figure out how to live with it for themselves.”
The following perspective helps me feel better.
First, it’s not news that AGI poses a significant threat to humanity. I felt seriously worried when I first encountered this idea in 2018 listening to Eliezer on the Sam Harris podcast. The “Death With Dignity” post revived these old fears, but it didn’t reveal new dangers that were previously unknown to me.
Second, many humans have dealt with believing “P(impending Doom) = high” at many times throughout history. COVID, Ukraine, famine in Yemen, WWI, WWII, the Holocaust, 9/11, incarceration in the US, Mongol conquests, the Congo Free State’s atrocities, the Great Purge, the Cambodian genocide, the Great Depression, the Black Death, the Putumayo genocide, the Holodomor, the Trail of Tears, the Syrian civil war, the Irish Potato Famine, the Vietnam War, slavery, colonialism, more wars, more terrorist attacks, more plagues, more famines, more genocides, etc.
It’s easy to read these events without simulating how the people involved felt. In most of these cases, “Doom” didn’t mean “everyone on the planet will die” but rather “I will lose everything” or “everything that matters will be destroyed” or “everyone I know will die” or “my culture will die” or “my family will die” or simply “I will die.” The thoughts these people had probably felt considerably more devastating than the thoughts I’m having these days. Heck, some people get terrified just reading the news. I’m not alone in worrying about the future.
Again: “I’m not alone in worrying about the future.” I find this immensely comforting. People are not at all oblivious to the world having problems, even if they disagree with me on which problems are the most important. Everyone has fears.
“My guess is that people who are concluding P(Doom) is high will each need to figure out how to live with it for themselves.”
The following perspective helps me feel better.
First, it’s not news that AGI poses a significant threat to humanity. I felt seriously worried when I first encountered this idea in 2018 listening to Eliezer on the Sam Harris podcast. The “Death With Dignity” post revived these old fears, but it didn’t reveal new dangers that were previously unknown to me.
Second, many humans have dealt with believing “P(impending Doom) = high” at many times throughout history. COVID, Ukraine, famine in Yemen, WWI, WWII, the Holocaust, 9/11, incarceration in the US, Mongol conquests, the Congo Free State’s atrocities, the Great Purge, the Cambodian genocide, the Great Depression, the Black Death, the Putumayo genocide, the Holodomor, the Trail of Tears, the Syrian civil war, the Irish Potato Famine, the Vietnam War, slavery, colonialism, more wars, more terrorist attacks, more plagues, more famines, more genocides, etc.
It’s easy to read these events without simulating how the people involved felt. In most of these cases, “Doom” didn’t mean “everyone on the planet will die” but rather “I will lose everything” or “everything that matters will be destroyed” or “everyone I know will die” or “my culture will die” or “my family will die” or simply “I will die.” The thoughts these people had probably felt considerably more devastating than the thoughts I’m having these days. Heck, some people get terrified just reading the news. I’m not alone in worrying about the future.
Again: “I’m not alone in worrying about the future.” I find this immensely comforting. People are not at all oblivious to the world having problems, even if they disagree with me on which problems are the most important. Everyone has fears.