Let me put it this way: Notch created Minecraft. It is awesome. There is nothing unambitious about it. It’s also something that exists entirely within a set of computers.
Agreed. I would count interacting with complex pieces of computing code as an “external referent.”
I suppose when I said “direct neural stimulation” it sounded like I meant something closer to wireheading. I just meant the matrix.
You’re right, when you said that I interpreted it to mean you were advocating wireheading, which I obviously find horrifying. The matrix, by contrast, is reasonably palatable.
I don’t see a world consisting mainly of matrix-dwellers as a dystopia, as long as the other people that they interact with in the matrix are real. A future where the majority of the population spends most of their time playing really complex and ambitious MMORPGs with each other would be a pretty awesome future.
I thought you were listing things you find intrinsically important.
I was, the personal growth thing is just a bonus. I probably should have left it out, it is confusing since everything else on the list involves terminal values.
Agreed. I would count interacting with complex pieces of computing code as an “external referent.”
You’re right, when you said that I interpreted it to mean you were advocating wireheading, which I obviously find horrifying. The matrix, by contrast, is reasonably palatable.
I don’t see a world consisting mainly of matrix-dwellers as a dystopia, as long as the other people that they interact with in the matrix are real. A future where the majority of the population spends most of their time playing really complex and ambitious MMORPGs with each other would be a pretty awesome future.
I was, the personal growth thing is just a bonus. I probably should have left it out, it is confusing since everything else on the list involves terminal values.