[ExI] Evil genius

[Dan]

--- On Fri, 7/10/09, Aware <aware at awareresearch.com> wrote:
> On Fri, Jul 10, 2009 at 8:28 AM, Dan<dan_ust at yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
> > I, too, wouldn't make a strong case for intelligence
> increase leading to lower crime overall.  But I do think
> there's some correlation -- even if only because intelligent
> people tend to, overall, think longer term.  Does this mean
> their criminal schemes might simply be longer term ones?
>  Perhaps, but my guess is, on average, the longer term the
> think, the less inclined it will be toward harming others.
>  Needn't be so, as one can imagine someone, say, with the
> long term plan of exterminating all life.  He might think
> long and hard and know this will require cooperation with
> many others and at least some level of social harmony to
> carry out -- though, presuming almost everyone else would be
> against such a plan, it'd require massive deception which,
> too, would seem to require thinking ahead and a higher level
> of intelligence.
> 
> Dan, although I agree with the thrust of your thinking, I
> would
> suggest you consider, rather than "thinking longer term",
> "thinking
> within a greater context."
> 
> Thinking longer term is good, and supports your line of
> argument, but
> being essentially sequential, it's like constructing a
> cantilever,
> weaker the further it is extended.
> 
> Thinking within a greater context exploits a wider,
> multidimensional
> base, like the more robust construction of a pyramid.
> 
> Either way you aim to integrate the maximum volume of
> relevant
> considerations.  The former seems simpler, in a 20th
> Century way of
> thinking about prediction that assumed increasing
> instrumentality
> implied increasing certainty. The latter is more robust and
> more
> appropriate to maximizing instrumental effectiveness within
> an increasingly uncertain future.

This is a good point.  I think the two are related and I'm perhaps unconsciously wedded to longer term thinking simply because there's some data on it.

Regards,

Dan