Human intelligence wasn’t part of a grand story reflected in all parts of the ecology, it just happened in a particular species.
If birds developed intelligence first instead of primates then they’d tell themselves it’s because flying requires you to think in three dimensions or that high intelligence is predicated on high energy production which comes from high energy demands which comes from flying.
If insects developed intelligence before vertebrates they’d tell themselves it’s because insects (being colonial [nevermind all the non-colonial insects]) are naturally social and because small organisms evolve faster than large ones.
If trees developed intelligence first they’d tell themselves it’s because trees are long-lived and only long-lived organisms can accumulate the knowledge necessary to make higher intelligence pay off.
The ‘grand story’ Eliezer is referring to here isn’t anything like these, though. That story is more like “there is a gradual increase in capability in all species, on an slow timescale; eventually one of them crosses the threshold of being able to produce culture which evolves on a faster timescale”. Sort of the opposite of these species-parochialist tales.
If birds developed intelligence first instead of primates then they’d tell themselves it’s because flying requires you to think in three dimensions or that high intelligence is predicated on high energy production which comes from high energy demands which comes from flying.
If insects developed intelligence before vertebrates they’d tell themselves it’s because insects (being colonial [nevermind all the non-colonial insects]) are naturally social and because small organisms evolve faster than large ones.
If trees developed intelligence first they’d tell themselves it’s because trees are long-lived and only long-lived organisms can accumulate the knowledge necessary to make higher intelligence pay off.
The ‘grand story’ Eliezer is referring to here isn’t anything like these, though. That story is more like “there is a gradual increase in capability in all species, on an slow timescale; eventually one of them crosses the threshold of being able to produce culture which evolves on a faster timescale”. Sort of the opposite of these species-parochialist tales.