[ExI] The meaning of life? Let's solve this together, once and for all! ; )

[Darin Sunley]

Eliezer Yudkowsky had an interesting eary take on this in the late 90's,
which he has since disowned. It was basically that "We aren't smart enough
to determine the meaning of life. So our immediate task is to build a
superintelligent AGI and have it figure it out." Twenty years of research
into the problem of AGI alignment has amended this to "No, don't do that.
Unaligned AGIs will kill us all, and we don't have the foggiest idea how to
align them. And whatever the meaning of life actually is, a necessary
subgoal of achieving it is not being killed by
superintelligent unaligned AGIs."

His "Meaning of Life FAQ" from the period, which can still be found on
archive.org, is still worth reading, even though it's core thesis is
demonstrably wrong and has been disowned. It has an excellent breakdown of
the many and varied definitions of the word "soul", which is still one of
the best short treatments I have ever read on the subject. (Section 4.7.1)

https://docs.google.com/document/d/12xxhvL34i7AcjXtJ9phwelZ7IzHZ_xiz-8lGwpWxucI/edit

On Thu, Sep 28, 2023 at 9:21 AM William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat <
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:

> Given human's infinite capacity for self-aggrandizement, people will
> invent meanings flattering them.  Successes will be exaggerated; failures
> will be rationalized.  Just the usual BS. billw
>
> On Wed, Sep 27, 2023 at 4:19 PM efc--- via extropy-chat <
> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
>
>> Good evening everyone,
>>
>> Let's solve this together, once and for all! ;)
>>
>> When it comes to the meaning of life, I believe that it cannot be found
>> as an
>> object in the world, and I do not believe that it is something that can
>> be told
>> which would instantly create meaning. I think that meaning is deeply
>> personal
>> and it is something which has to be experienced and lived in order to
>> express
>> and feel it.
>>
>> The meaning I am talking about is a deep seated, fundamental meaning that
>> brings you peace as an individual.
>>
>> But, I also believe there are different levels of meaning, and although
>> it has
>> been criticized, as an approximate framework to talk within, I kind of
>> like
>> Maslows pyramid of needs. We have a need for life, a drive to live, for
>> safety,
>> food, etc. On top of that we have our everyday meaning, we need to feel
>> wanted
>> and that we produce something. I believe for instance, that the human
>> body was
>> made for input and output. If you starve the input, or starve the output,
>> you'll create an imbalance that will impact your psychological health.
>>
>> So looking at positive psychology, I think we have some pointers and
>> tools to
>> give us a good foundation for worldly meaning. Add to that, a pinch of
>> stoicism
>> and epicureanism, and you can, with a bit of skill, create a nice
>> philosophical
>> "mind castle" for yourself that does away with fear of death and other
>> such
>> things.
>>
>> But for me, that is not Meaning with a capital m. All the previous levels
>> in
>> Maslows pyramid contribute to a good life, but at the top with have the
>> mystical self-actualization, and I am somewhat attracted to the earth (or
>> universe) shattering realizations of a union with the universe that the
>> mystics
>> talk about.
>>
>> That might be a peak, and on the road to that peak, you can have deep
>> seated
>> ethical and moral feelings such as doctors when it comes to the sanctity
>> of
>> life, and saving lives, that give a deep meaning to your life. But just
>> telling
>> the would-be doctor that it is nice to save lives, is not enough. The
>> meaning
>> for the doctor is created when he is performing his function.
>>
>> When it does come to the lighter kind of philosophical meaning, I am very
>> fond
>> of epicureanism with the understanding that it talks about long-term
>> sustainable pleasure. But it could be argued, that peak mystical
>> experiences
>> are aligned with that philosophy, since a deep seated, fully realized
>> meaning
>> does bring you long-term sustainable pleasure so epicureanism can
>> be deeper than it looks at first sight. Actually, I'm not fond of the
>> word pleasure since I think brings with it bad connotations and
>> associations.
>> Perhaps contentment might be better? You're the english speaking pros, so
>> I'm
>> certain you'll be able to nail it down to a better word. =)
>>
>> So with that said, what do you all think about the meaning of life?
>>
>> Best regards,
>> Daniel
>>
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