Carl, you hit the biggest nail on the head. But I think there’s another nail there. If not for XiXiDu, then for many others. Working on fooming AI issues makes one a weirdo. Wearing a tinfoil hat would only be slightly less embarrassing. Working on environmental problems is downright normal, at least within some (comfortably large) social circles.
Back to that biggest nail—it needs another whack. AI threatens to dramatically worsen the world within our children’s lifetimes. Robin Hanson, sitting next to his son, will feel significantly less comfortable upon thinking such thoughts. That provides a powerful motive to rationalize the problem away—or to worry at it, I suppose, depending on one’s personality, but I find denial to be more popular than worrywarting.
Carl, you hit the biggest nail on the head. But I think there’s another nail there. If not for XiXiDu, then for many others. Working on fooming AI issues makes one a weirdo. Wearing a tinfoil hat would only be slightly less embarrassing. Working on environmental problems is downright normal, at least within some (comfortably large) social circles.
Back to that biggest nail—it needs another whack. AI threatens to dramatically worsen the world within our children’s lifetimes. Robin Hanson, sitting next to his son, will feel significantly less comfortable upon thinking such thoughts. That provides a powerful motive to rationalize the problem away—or to worry at it, I suppose, depending on one’s personality, but I find denial to be more popular than worrywarting.
I agree with these points. I was responding to XiXiDu’s focus in his post about availability of time and resources for other interests.