Or is it more IQ being necessary for efficient self-modification?
Sounds like false dilemma if IQ is one of those things that can be modified. :D
To unpack the word, IQ approximately means how complex concepts can you “juggle” in your head. Without enough IQ, even if you had an easy computer interface to modify your own brain, you wouldn’t understand what exactly you should do to achieve your goals (because you wouldn’t sufficiently understand the concepts and the possible consequences of the changes). That means, you would be making those changes blindly… and you could get lucky and hit the path where your IQ increases so then you can start making reliably the right steps, or you could set yourself on a way towards some self-destructive attractor.
As a simple example, a stupid person could choose to press a button that activates their reward center… and would keep doing that until they die from starvation. Another example would be self-modification where you lose your original goals, or lose the will to further self-improve, etc. This does not have to happen in one obvious step, but could be a subtle cumulative consequence of many seemingly innocent steps. For example, a person could decide that being fit is instrumentally useful for their goals, so they would self-modify to enjoy exercise, but would make a mistake of modifying themselves too much, so now they only want to exercise all day long, and no longer care about their original goals. Then they would either stop self-modifying, or self-modify merely to exercise better.
It also depends on how complex would be the “user interface to modify your own brain”. Maybe IQ 120 would not be enough to understand it. Maybe even IQ 200 wouldn’t. You could just see a huge network of nodes, each connected to hundreds of other nodes, each one with insanely abstract description… and either give up, or start pushing random buttons and most likely hurt yourself.
So basicly the lowest necessary starting IQ is the IQ you need to self-modify to safely enough increase your IQ. This is a very simple model which assumes that if IQ N allows you to get to IQ N+1, then IQ N+1 probably allows you to get to IQ N+2. The way does not have to be this smooth; there may be a smooth increase up to some level, which then requires a radical change to overcome; or maybe the intelligence gains at each step will decrease.
Imagine trying to compete with Stalin for the job of being Lenin’s successor. What traits you need for it?
Courage, social skills, ability to understand how politics really works. You should probably start in some position in army or secret service, some place where you can start building your own network of loyal people, without being noticed by Stalin. Or maybe you should start as a crime boss in hiding, I don’t know.
To unpack the word, IQ approximately means how complex concepts can you “juggle” in your head
I think I agree with this, this is why I don’t understand how can intelligence be defined as goal-achieving ability. When I am struggling with the hardest exercises on the Raven test, what I wish I had more is not some goal-achieving power but something far simpler, something akin to short term memory. So when I wish for more intelligene, I just wish for a bit more RAM in short-term memory, so more detailed, more granular ideas can be uploaded into tumble space. No idea why should it mean goal-achieving or optimizing ability. And for AI IQ sounds like entirely hardware...
Sounds like false dilemma if IQ is one of those things that can be modified. :D
To unpack the word, IQ approximately means how complex concepts can you “juggle” in your head. Without enough IQ, even if you had an easy computer interface to modify your own brain, you wouldn’t understand what exactly you should do to achieve your goals (because you wouldn’t sufficiently understand the concepts and the possible consequences of the changes). That means, you would be making those changes blindly… and you could get lucky and hit the path where your IQ increases so then you can start making reliably the right steps, or you could set yourself on a way towards some self-destructive attractor.
As a simple example, a stupid person could choose to press a button that activates their reward center… and would keep doing that until they die from starvation. Another example would be self-modification where you lose your original goals, or lose the will to further self-improve, etc. This does not have to happen in one obvious step, but could be a subtle cumulative consequence of many seemingly innocent steps. For example, a person could decide that being fit is instrumentally useful for their goals, so they would self-modify to enjoy exercise, but would make a mistake of modifying themselves too much, so now they only want to exercise all day long, and no longer care about their original goals. Then they would either stop self-modifying, or self-modify merely to exercise better.
It also depends on how complex would be the “user interface to modify your own brain”. Maybe IQ 120 would not be enough to understand it. Maybe even IQ 200 wouldn’t. You could just see a huge network of nodes, each connected to hundreds of other nodes, each one with insanely abstract description… and either give up, or start pushing random buttons and most likely hurt yourself.
So basicly the lowest necessary starting IQ is the IQ you need to self-modify to safely enough increase your IQ. This is a very simple model which assumes that if IQ N allows you to get to IQ N+1, then IQ N+1 probably allows you to get to IQ N+2. The way does not have to be this smooth; there may be a smooth increase up to some level, which then requires a radical change to overcome; or maybe the intelligence gains at each step will decrease.
Courage, social skills, ability to understand how politics really works. You should probably start in some position in army or secret service, some place where you can start building your own network of loyal people, without being noticed by Stalin. Or maybe you should start as a crime boss in hiding, I don’t know.
I think I agree with this, this is why I don’t understand how can intelligence be defined as goal-achieving ability. When I am struggling with the hardest exercises on the Raven test, what I wish I had more is not some goal-achieving power but something far simpler, something akin to short term memory. So when I wish for more intelligene, I just wish for a bit more RAM in short-term memory, so more detailed, more granular ideas can be uploaded into tumble space. No idea why should it mean goal-achieving or optimizing ability. And for AI IQ sounds like entirely hardware...