What makes the desire to obtain high status within some small group a legitimate piece of Godshatter (good), as opposed to a kind of scope insensitivity (bad)? Or to put it another way, why isn’t scope insensitivity (the non-linear way that a typical human being values other people’s suffering) also considered Godshatter?
Voted up as this is an important and general question about converting human intuitions into a formal utility function.
What makes the desire to obtain high status within some small group a legitimate piece of Godshatter (good), as opposed to a kind of scope insensitivity (bad)?
Do we have a general criterion for deciding these things? Or is it still unresolved in general?
In this specific case, it seems to me that there are many aspects of social interaction that are zero-sum or even negative sum. For the purpose of Coherent Extrapolated Volition, zero sum or negative sum elements are like scope insensitivity, i.e. bad.
There are clearly some social status games that are positive sum.
Do we have a general criterion for deciding these things? Or is it still unresolved in general?
I think it’s unresolved in general. I brought up scope insensitivity as a counter-example to the “Godshatter” argument, or at least a strong form of it which says we should keep all of the values that evolution has handed down to us. It seems likely that we shouldn’t, but exactly where to draw the line is unclear to me. Still, to me, desire for high status in some small group seems to be the same kind of “crazy” value as scope insensitivity.
In this specific case, it seems to me that there are many aspects of social interaction that are zero-sum or even negative sum. For the purpose of Coherent Extrapolated Volition, zero sum or negative sum elements are like scope insensitivity, i.e. bad.
I wasn’t talking about CEV, I was mainly talking about what you or I should value, now, as individuals. I’m not sure that positive-sum/zero-sum has much to do with that.
Deciding which psychological drives to keep, and which to abandon, is the same as figuring out full formal preference (assuming you have more expressive power than just keeping/abandoning), so there is no heuristic for doing that simpler than full formal preference. This problem isn’t just unresolved, it’s almost FAI-complete (preference theory, as opposed to efficient implementation).
Status should be about gaining allies and mates, correct? Just as charity is about helping people.
Gaining more allies and mates (especially for a male) should be better than gaining fewer agreed? If so, why do maths professors spend so much time and effort trying to gain status in the small world of maths? They would be better off appealing to the lowest common denominator and using their intellect to wow people in something more accessible.
What makes the desire to obtain high status within some small group a legitimate piece of Godshatter (good), as opposed to a kind of scope insensitivity (bad)? Or to put it another way, why isn’t scope insensitivity (the non-linear way that a typical human being values other people’s suffering) also considered Godshatter?
Voted up as this is an important and general question about converting human intuitions into a formal utility function.
Do we have a general criterion for deciding these things? Or is it still unresolved in general?
In this specific case, it seems to me that there are many aspects of social interaction that are zero-sum or even negative sum. For the purpose of Coherent Extrapolated Volition, zero sum or negative sum elements are like scope insensitivity, i.e. bad.
There are clearly some social status games that are positive sum.
I think it’s unresolved in general. I brought up scope insensitivity as a counter-example to the “Godshatter” argument, or at least a strong form of it which says we should keep all of the values that evolution has handed down to us. It seems likely that we shouldn’t, but exactly where to draw the line is unclear to me. Still, to me, desire for high status in some small group seems to be the same kind of “crazy” value as scope insensitivity.
I wasn’t talking about CEV, I was mainly talking about what you or I should value, now, as individuals. I’m not sure that positive-sum/zero-sum has much to do with that.
Deciding which psychological drives to keep, and which to abandon, is the same as figuring out full formal preference (assuming you have more expressive power than just keeping/abandoning), so there is no heuristic for doing that simpler than full formal preference. This problem isn’t just unresolved, it’s almost FAI-complete (preference theory, as opposed to efficient implementation).
Can you expand on this? It isn’t logically inconsistent to want to have status…
My guess:
Status should be about gaining allies and mates, correct? Just as charity is about helping people.
Gaining more allies and mates (especially for a male) should be better than gaining fewer agreed? If so, why do maths professors spend so much time and effort trying to gain status in the small world of maths? They would be better off appealing to the lowest common denominator and using their intellect to wow people in something more accessible.
The quality of the allies also matters. Having allies that can’t help you in your chosen goals is a drain on resources.