improving the world (“Friendly AI” + “raising the sanity waterline”)
The individual elements are already out there—various kinds of transhumanists and futurists; psychologists such as Kahneman; the whole self-improvement industry; and thousands of political or religious movements. But the problem is that self-improvement and world-changing movements are typically full of insanity. And dreaming about transhuman future is nice, but it’s not obvious how people like me would contribute.
So, speaking for myself, what I hear in the Sequences is:
“You can become stronger, find like-minded friends, improve the world, and ultimately bring the sci-fi future… without having to sacrifice your own sanity. Actually, being smart and sane will be helpful.”
(And the dissolution happens when people seem no longer interested in improving themselves, improving the world and bringing the sci-fi future; only in having a place to procrastinate by sharing news articles and nitpicking everything. Something like Mensa online.)
The combination of:
transhumanism (“Friendly AI”)
rationality (“overcoming biases”)
improving oneself (“becoming stronger”)
improving the world (“Friendly AI” + “raising the sanity waterline”)
The individual elements are already out there—various kinds of transhumanists and futurists; psychologists such as Kahneman; the whole self-improvement industry; and thousands of political or religious movements. But the problem is that self-improvement and world-changing movements are typically full of insanity. And dreaming about transhuman future is nice, but it’s not obvious how people like me would contribute.
So, speaking for myself, what I hear in the Sequences is:
“You can become stronger, find like-minded friends, improve the world, and ultimately bring the sci-fi future… without having to sacrifice your own sanity. Actually, being smart and sane will be helpful.”
(And the dissolution happens when people seem no longer interested in improving themselves, improving the world and bringing the sci-fi future; only in having a place to procrastinate by sharing news articles and nitpicking everything. Something like Mensa online.)