>This is how cultural evolution works. Those societies that work well gain members, either by birth or immigration/conversion, while those that don’t lose members will ultimately go extinct. This concept is so important for anyone thinking about the human systems that are societies. You can’t just ignore real-world effects and insist that your policies are correct because of a convincing argument. You have to look at actual results, and how those good-sounding policies could have devastating, unintended consequences.
I broadly agree with this take on cultural evolution, but I will say I've heard some convincing arguments from the folks who take short AGI timelines really seriously. If we crack the code of creating machines that can do the equivalent to human labor, why is fertility rate an issue anymore?
When you start asking that question, I think it helps get to more fundamental value differences. For me personally I just think that the human biological family is something that should be kept and catered to, and we throw it out at our peril. But if the main justification is just cultural survival, I don't know if that argument holds up in the face of a truly general artificial intelligence.
>This is how cultural evolution works. Those societies that work well gain members, either by birth or immigration/conversion, while those that don’t lose members will ultimately go extinct. This concept is so important for anyone thinking about the human systems that are societies. You can’t just ignore real-world effects and insist that your policies are correct because of a convincing argument. You have to look at actual results, and how those good-sounding policies could have devastating, unintended consequences.
I broadly agree with this take on cultural evolution, but I will say I've heard some convincing arguments from the folks who take short AGI timelines really seriously. If we crack the code of creating machines that can do the equivalent to human labor, why is fertility rate an issue anymore?
When you start asking that question, I think it helps get to more fundamental value differences. For me personally I just think that the human biological family is something that should be kept and catered to, and we throw it out at our peril. But if the main justification is just cultural survival, I don't know if that argument holds up in the face of a truly general artificial intelligence.