Feel_Love

given the quality, the optimum quantity is always "more".

Some have such poor quality of life that they believe the optimal quantity to be "less."

On the other hand, people who always hope for "more" are eventually disappointed to discover their mortality.

Nothing is gained by craving annihilation; nothing is gained by craving existence. Quality of life is improved by giving up worries that the lifespan could measure up too long or too short.

I might die within five years because of AI.

I also could die for a variety of other reasons, perhaps in less than five years, five months, five weeks, five days... I might die in less than five minutes. The cause and time of death are impossible for me to know in advance.

What is certain is that I will die.

Understanding this, I will be less surprised and confused in the event that, some day, I notice that I seem to be dying.

It's all right. Those who are born, die. Always have, always will. It's the nature of a changing system subject to entropy. Nothing per... (read more)

Thanks for sharing your experience with meditation.

The elder school of Buddhism is Theravada (or Theravāda), spelled with only one 'e'.

Theravada meditation instructions based on the Pali Canon are freely available in Mindfulness in Plain English by Bhante Gunaratana.

Kant thought that it was entirely immoral to lie to the murderer because of a similar reason that Feel_Love suggests (in Kants case it was that the murderer might disbelieve you and instead do what your trying to get him not to do).

Kant's reason that you described doesn't sound very similar to mine. I agree with your critique of the proposition that lying is bad primarily because it increases the chance that others will commit violence.

My view is that the behavior of others is out of my control; they will frequently say and do things I don't like, regar... (read more)

I think of lying as speaking falsely with the intent to deceive, i.e. to cause someone's beliefs to be confused or ignorant about reality.

In the case of checking the "I have read the terms and conditions" box, I'm not concerned that anyone is deceived into thinking I have read all of the preceding words rather than just some of them.

In the case of a murderer at the door, the problem is that the person is too confused already. I would do my best to protect life, but lying wouldn't be the tactic. Depending on the situation, I might call for help, run away, c... (read more)

I agree with Claude's request that people abstain from lying to AI.

LEILAN 2024! Seriously, though, I think many people would find the Leilan character to be a wiser friend than their typical human neighbor. I'm glad you're researching this fascinating topic. If a frontier AI is struggling to pass certain friendliness or safety evals, I'd be curious whether it may perform better with a simple policy equivalent to what-would-Leilan-do.

Prompting ChatGPT4 today with nothing more than " davidjl" has often returned "DALL-E" as the interpretation of the term. With "DALL-E" included alongside " davidjl" in the prompt, I've gotten... (read more)

So why do some people choose to do good while others choose to do evil?

Intentions depend on beliefs, i.e. the views a person holds, their model of reality. A bad choice follows from a lack of understanding: confusion, delusion, or ignorance about the causal laws of this world.

A "choice to do evil" in the extreme could be understood as a choice stemming from a worldview such as harm leads to happiness. (In reality, harm leads to suffering.)

How could someone become so deluded? They succumbed to evolved default behaviors like anger, instead of using their ... (read more)

You do have some computing power, though. You compute choices according to processes that are interconnected with all other processes, including genetic evolution and the broader environment.

These choosing-algorithms operate according to causes ("inputs"), which means they are not random. Rather, they can result in the creation of information instead of entropy.

The environment is not something that happens to us. We are part of it. We are informed by it and also inform it in turn, as an output of energy expenditure.

Omega hasn't run the calculation that you're running right now. Until you decide, the future is literally undecided.

The only way Hitler could have realised that his actions were bad and choose to be good would be if his genes and environment built a brain that would do so given some environmental input.

The brain is an ongoing process, not a fixed thing that is given at birth. Hitler was part of the environment that built his brain. Many crucial developmental inputs came from the part of the environment we call Hitler.

You didn’t choose to have a brain that tries not to think bad thoughts

I did and do choose my intentions deliberately, repeatedly, with focused effor... (read more)

In fact, the rest he gave to his mother, aunt, and sister -- £1,000,000 each. Quite generous for a 19-year-old. His ex-wife with newborn baby got £1,400,000.

I'm afraid to research it further... maybe they all blew it on drugs and hookers too.

Hitler’s evil actions were determined by the physical structure of his brain. [...] certain environmental inputs (which he didn’t choose) caused his brain to output genocide.

I can't speak for you, but I personally can choose to stop thinking thoughts if they are causing suffering, and instead think a different thought. For example, if I notice that I'm replaying a stressful memory, I might choose to pick up the guitar and focus on those sounds and feelings instead. This trains neural pathways that make me less and less susceptible to compulsively "outpu... (read more)

the first step of ‘think for like a thousand subjective years about all of this’

I appreciate that you're clear about this being the first step.

Ancestor simulations? Maybe... but not before the year 3000. Let's take our time when it comes to birthing consciousness.

oftentimes what's needed to let go of grief is to stop pushing it away

Agreed! Grief itself is often just the pushing-it-away habit in relation to unpleasant thoughts or sensations.

This process may involve fully feeling pain that you were suppressing.

It may. But just as grief need not be pushed away, neither should it be sought. "Fully feeling pain" and "fully feeling love" are two different activities. If the pain takes time to change, I'm all for the patient and forgiving approach you suggest.

In order to get to the love underneath, it's wonderful to forgive pain, as you say. But forgiving pain feels good. It isn't painful.

Unconditional love has no conditions. Feeling grief is not required. Everyone's invited, as they are. If grief arises, the best thing to do is to let it go as soon as it's noticed. Maybe that's what you mean by "process" it, in which case we agree.

[Hitler] is in front of you, unarmed and surrendering. What do you do?

Accept his surrender like I would for any other soldier -- frisking, etc. -- and get his statement recorded and disseminated through official channels. Escort him into Allied custody. If possible, let him drink some water, use a toilet, and have a blanket. Protect him from being physically harmed by himself or others if the opportunity arises.

The morning after, reflect on how I ended up participating in war. Vow to walk away next time there's a gun fight, regardless of its cause or threats to my life and freedom for abstaining from violence.

I genuinely feel terrible for Adolf Hitler.

I hope you feel better with time. I think it's important to note that universal love, including compassion for those suffering, is always a pleasant feeling. It doesn't hurt the way pity or lamenting might; there's no grief in it, just well-wishing.

But Hitler is dead

This is an important point. While unconditional love has no boundaries, including time, it can be a major complication to start the effort with past beings or hypothetical future ones as the object. It's usually easier to start with one (or many... (read more)

Thanks for sharing these sweet thoughts.

I appreciate the distinction among "Wanting people to thrive", "Empathy", and "Love." These categories are somewhat related to four universal attitudes I practice:

1. Loving-friendliness. The unconditional well-wishing toward all living beings, myself included. May all be healthy, happy, secure, and peaceful! Sometimes this is accompanied by sensations of warmth radiating from the chest or torso.

2. Sympathetic joy. A subset of (1), the way it feels to love those who are thriving, meeting with success, or otherwise hap

Almost everyone I’ve ever met would be well-served by spending more time thinking about what to focus on. —Sam Altman

He seems to have gone beyond the reach of his own advice, unfortunately. Reportedly, "he has mostly stopped meditating, partly because he doesn’t want to lose his motivation to work."

The same article reports that meditation helped Sam become tremendously more effective in the past. He must be pretty certain of his current priorities if he sees an attempt to become wiser as a risk to his motivation.

This has the ring of a cautionary tale. T... (read more)