It’s sometimes easy to forget that institutions often arise as solutions to problems.
For example:
• Journalism uncovers and spreads information that matters to people that would otherwise be hard for them to know.
• Education teaches people what they'll need to know that they won't easily learn on their own.
• Science increases our understanding of (and control over) reality.
• Civil Courts right wrongs between people.
• Finance (among other things) e...
More
human flourishing
If AI Replaces Human Labor Does That Have To Strip Human Lives Of Meaning?
A common worry is that technological development, and increasingly advanced AI in particular, will necessarily remove meaning from our lives. For instance, if humanity ends up in a situation of extreme material abundance, but at some point there is a lack of ability for most (or all) people to do work that's value-additive, will that lead to widespread depression and lack of meaning?
While I think there are very serious concerns that advancing technologies, and AI in particular, raise (such ...
More
Ten Skills Our Civilization Needs
Here are ten skills I believe our civilization needs, if we hope to create an amazing world instead of a dumpster fire.
1. Evidence evaluation
Converging on a valid consensus about what’s true based on evidence/argument (e.g., being able to converge as a society on questions like "climate change real, how bad will it get if we don't act, and how quickly?").
2. Coordination
Developing and applying mechanisms to avoid collective action problems (e.g., working to make it in nobody’s in...
More