I don’t know. Possibly something, probably nothing.
the essence of [addition as addition itself]…
The “essence of cognition” isn’t really available for us to study directly (so far as I know), except as a part of more complex processes. Finding many varied examples may help determine what is the “essence” versus what is just extraneous detail.
While intelligent agency in humans is definitely more interesting than in amoebas, knowing exactly why amoebas aren’t intelligent agents would tell you one detail about why humans are, and may thus tell you a trait that a hypothetical AGI would need to have.
knowing exactly why amoebas aren’t intelligent agents would tell you one detail about why humans are
Exactly, yeah; I think in the particular case of amoebas the benefit looks more like this, and it doesn’t so much look like amoebas positively exemplifying much that’s key about the kind of agency we’re interested in re/ alignment. Which is why I disagree with the OP.
I don’t know. Possibly something, probably nothing.
The “essence of cognition” isn’t really available for us to study directly (so far as I know), except as a part of more complex processes. Finding many varied examples may help determine what is the “essence” versus what is just extraneous detail.
While intelligent agency in humans is definitely more interesting than in amoebas, knowing exactly why amoebas aren’t intelligent agents would tell you one detail about why humans are, and may thus tell you a trait that a hypothetical AGI would need to have.
I’m glad you liked my elevator example!
Exactly, yeah; I think in the particular case of amoebas the benefit looks more like this, and it doesn’t so much look like amoebas positively exemplifying much that’s key about the kind of agency we’re interested in re/ alignment. Which is why I disagree with the OP.