Some people might value occupying a particular mental state for its own sake, but that wasn’t what I was talking about here. I was talking purely instrumentally—your interest in existential risk suggests you have goals or long term preferences about the world (although I understand that I may have got this wrong), and I was contemplating what might help you achieve those and what might stand in your way.
Just to clarify—is it my assessment of you as an aspiring utility maximizer that I’m wrong about, or am I right about that but wrong about something at the strategic level? (Or fundamentally misunderstanding your preferences)
Some people might value occupying a particular mental state for its own sake, but that wasn’t what I was talking about here. I was talking purely instrumentally—your interest in existential risk suggests you have goals or long term preferences about the world (although I understand that I may have got this wrong), and I was contemplating what might help you achieve those and what might stand in your way.
Just to clarify—is it my assessment of you as an aspiring utility maximizer that I’m wrong about, or am I right about that but wrong about something at the strategic level? (Or fundamentally misunderstanding your preferences)