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And you wrote a meandering post that went through Yudkowsky, Musk and Altman to conclude with being more concerned about economics than x-risk and why you and yours with children should have a say with regards to the future while those of us with 'transhumanist fancies' instead of children should not. Can you blame me for focusing on the only sentence in your post that was bolded when trying to distill a thesis?
I mean, I'm assuming there's some kind of framework behind your beliefs. You don't need a generalizable principle, but there needs to be more substance to your argument than "I have children and you don't therefore I decide" if you want to change my mind.
Fine, I'll lay some cards on the table instead of being a pain in the ass.
Reasonable arguments seem to be that people should have a say in the decision-making process if (1) they will be affected by the outcomes or (2) they have significant expertise in the area such that we think they'll make better choices than average Joe. I can imagine arguing for a flat system ('one person one vote') or a technocracy (decisions made by committees of experts) and our society falling in between.
Example (i), abortion: Women will obviously be affected by the outcome of the abortion discussion to a greater extent than men. Certain people would argue that they also know more about it than men (I can vouch that my female friends with children are certainly more intimate with the details of pregnancy, childbirth and nursing than their husbands) but that's a rabbit hole I'd probably rather avoid so you can strike it from the record if you like.
Example (ii), guns: AR-15 owners are obviously affected by the outcome of gun control regulation (confiscation of their arms) and arguably more knowledgeable about at least the mechanics of shooting and gun ownership.
Example (iii), military: Active military obviously have more of a stake in foreign policy decisions given that they'll be the boots on the ground, and seem highly likely to know more about the military and foreign engagements than your average civilian.
So no, I disagree with this statement:
Each of those examples has a stakeholder that will be deeply personally affected by the policies in addition to having more (as you put it) direct experience with the subject than the average person.
Perhaps I misspoke by saying 'self-determination.' A say in the direction of the community and nation-state in which they live may be more accurate.
Can you explain what you mean by farms the commons, and concretely what that refers to in this case? It carries connotations of private enterprise benefiting from subsidies or avoiding dealing with the externalities of their actions, but I assume that's not what you're going for here.
I think this splits too quickly into a discussion about principled views that I would be happy to have under separate cover. I'd rather revert to my only real point that, as a parent the concerns of other parents about their children is a force of commonality and a potential for alignment. I recognize that in Elon Musk to an extent, and I was surprised to see both Elizier express sentiment that at least the child of a loved one is top of mind for him.
I am of course, aware of the ways appeals to children can be an emotional camel's nose into the tent of control. But my perspective is to ask, why it works and whether that reason is not always wrong.
People with kids, and people with traditional families (neither Elon, nor Elizier have the latter) are going to weigh future planning differently than those without. Am I, someone invested in the survival of the traditional human family wrong to prefer the leaders and those with power over transformative technology to share my experiences and values?
Generally speaking I want leaders and decision makers and people with power to share my values (as does everyone everywhere all the time. Just because the liberal's values are liberalism, doesn't mean that their desire for leaders to prioritize liberalism isn't the same exact impulse). AI is not an exception to that, and might be, rather the most extreme case in my lifetime.
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