Congrats on publishing the book. It seems that many of the concepts you discuss seem well-known (especially within EA and LW). However, am I right to say that the novelty/contribution of the work lies in the following (caveat—obviously, this is a shallow summary): 1. Making multipolar traps, stemming from the evolutionary optimization process, the central concept (instead of doing the most good or becoming less wrong). 2. Outlining how it’s the root cause of key priorities such as existential risks (and perhaps things such as the Fermi paradox). 3. Describing how multipolar traps can be avoided via global coordination in the form of value chains and related mechanisms. If so, this might be the most novel part of the book.
Congrats on publishing the book. It seems that many of the concepts you discuss seem well-known (especially within EA and LW). However, am I right to say that the novelty/contribution of the work lies in the following (caveat—obviously, this is a shallow summary):
1. Making multipolar traps, stemming from the evolutionary optimization process, the central concept (instead of doing the most good or becoming less wrong).
2. Outlining how it’s the root cause of key priorities such as existential risks (and perhaps things such as the Fermi paradox).
3. Describing how multipolar traps can be avoided via global coordination in the form of value chains and related mechanisms. If so, this might be the most novel part of the book.
Thank you Seb! And you are correct! 😊