Jonah Wilberg

In the previous posts in this sequence, I've made the case that Evolutionary Prisoner's Dilemma (EPD) is the real subject-matter of Scott Alexander's Meditations on Moloch (MoM), and that its opposite, Evolutionary Harmony (EH), provides a model for the Goddess of Everything Else as our best hope of defeating Moloch....

In the previous post in this sequence I argued that Evolutionary Prisoner’s Dilemma (EPD) offers a useful model of the subject-matter of Scott Alexander’s Meditations on Moloch (MoM) - one that fits the details of that essay better than the standard interpretation of Moloch as the God of collective action...

Meditations on Moloch (MoM) is great but it’s not super clear: specifically, it’s not super clear what Moloch actually is. In this post I’ll propose a new way of modelling Moloch using evolutionary game theory that I hope makes things clearer. Moloch is usually explained in terms of well-known economic...

The theory of metacrisis[1] put forward by Daniel Schmachtenberger and others has gained traction in some circles concerned with global risks[2]. But despite strong similarities in key claims, it remains unexplored within AI safety and governance discourse[3]. In this post I aim to bridge the gap by comparing related ideas...

Summary: The Many-Worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics helps us towards an overall evaluation of existence. I consider some recent work in philosophy of religion on the quantum multiverse and the Problem of Evil, as well as Olaf Stapledon’s Starmaker. I’ve previously suggested that when we think about the ethical implications...

Summary: The Many-Worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics can help us respond virtuously to improbably good circumstances. Contemplating the less lucky branches of the quantum multiverse can be seen as a beneficial 'negative visualisation' practise comparable to those in Stoicism and some Buddhist traditions. I’ve previously suggested that when we think...

Summary: The Many-Worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics can help us feel better about improbable bad events, since the things we value remain unaffected in most other worlds. I’ve previously suggested that when we think about the ethical implications of the many-worlds interpretation (MWI) of quantum mechanics, the kinds of implications...