[ExI] AGI development and human extinction risk

[Ben Zaiboc]

On Saturday, 21 March 2026 at 18:59, Keith Henson <hkeithhenson at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Sat, Mar 21, 2026 at 7:37 AM Ben Zaiboc via extropy-chat
> <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
> >
> > On 21/03/2026 12:38, Keith Henson wrote:
> 
> >snip
> 
> > "There has never been any reproductive disadvantage to having more wealth (or firewood)."
> >
> > I don't think that's exactly true. We (in common with many other mammals) have a tendency to punish those who take more than their fair share.
> 
> I suppose so, but I can't think of an example.  Got one?
> 
> > This is probably older and stronger than the 'unlimited accumulation' trait, which might be unique to humans.
> 
> I was about to say this was post-agriculture, but I remembered reading
> about a cache of a dozen Clovis points that was found a few years ago.
> In most natural examples, you can't accumulate stuff because it
> decays, or, like grass, is consumed. A few animals do build up stores
> of things like nuts.
> 
> > And there's probably a tendency to avoid this punishment by refraining from the unfair behaviour, even if you'd like to.
> 
> Examples would help.  I can't think of any disadvantages of having wealth.


Perhaps not wealth /per se/, but there are certainly disadvantages to inequality, for people on both sides. The greater the inequality, the greater the disadvantages.
--
Ben