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As usual

makes me think long after we get together on the podcast. This time about why we aren't more direct about our goals? Full Episode link: buzzsprout.com/126848/10289422 Youtube link: youtu.be/oYCEo3LnGFE

1:19

1.2K views

1:28 PM · Apr 28, 2022

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Essentially the modern world is allowing maximum Revealed Preferences, and people who once had kids incidentally because of cultural and economic pressures will more largely only have them if they really really personally want to; next generations may be hilariously pronatal

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It is a necessary fact those future generations will have won the natalist arms race. And yet... my read of

@JoHenrich

's work on cultural evolution permits a separation of birth rates and cultural propagation. You don't have to be born WEIRD to further its dominance.

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1. People rarely care about long games 2. Our (especially distant) descendants are only a small fraction of what we care about

lesswrong.com

Thou Art Godshatter - LessWrong

Before the 20th century, not a single human being had an explicit concept of "inclusive genetic fitness", the sole and absolute obsession of the blind idiot god. We have no instinctive revulsion of c…

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Individuals don't need to care about something for our culture to trick us into maximizing it. Robin's point in the clip is caring would just make us better at it, probably. Regardless of preference, our descendants will be selected for their ability to propagate.

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Why would it be rational to care about it?

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hm.. rational. I think rationality is a red herring here. Games reward winners, irrespective of why they win. Rational winner? Great. Irrational winner? *shrug*

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is wrong here. A creature optimizing for future descendents will not win evolutionarily. Would such a creature die in a war for their group? But other creatures, which are organized, will win against unorganized creatures and win the competition for resources 🧵

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Wouldn't the genetic argument here be that genes that enable more responsive competitive strategies (like culture which may include sacrificial events if they are needed) are selected for? Any competitive structure needs to collapse to genetic propagation somewhere.

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Then comes the question, shall we maximize offsprings with little regard to both 'quality' of genes and 'quality' if life prognosed at conception?