Worth reading article on #longtermism, #SiliconValley and what it has to do with #urban #planning. For me, it is also another indication that one has to be sceptical about the current hype of a new (?) interest in #future. Perhaps we need less imaginaries of the future and more analysis of problems of the present. Via @tazgetroete, in German. https://taz.de/Elon-Musk-und-das-X/!5955322/

#Longtermism #TESCREAL #AGI: "The warnings I articulated in 2019 and 2021 are no longer merely hypothetical. What we’re seeing now is exactly what I worried could happen in the years to come. It didn’t take long for my predictions to prove accurate. When leading TESCREALists argue that existential risks are the “one kind of catastrophe that must be avoided at any cost,” to quote Bostrom with italics added, one shouldn’t be surprised if members of the community start talking about the use of force, military strikes, or targeted killings to reduce the supposed “existential risk” of AGI.

I do not know how this ends, but what’s clear from history is that many utopian movements, embracing a kind of “utilitarian” reasoning, have left a trail of destruction behind them. Will this time be any different? It depends on whether the power and influence of the TESCREAL movement continues to grow, and right now, the trendlines are ominous."

https://www.truthdig.com/articles/before-its-too-late-buddy/

‘Before It’s Too Late, Buddy’

This is what happens when you spend two years unmasking a well-funded Silicon Valley “apocalypse cult.”

by @xriskology

"This scenario is eerily similar to what Yudkowsky is advocating: military actions that could cause a genocidal nuclear catastrophe, if necessary to keep the techno-utopian dream alive."

#TESCREAL #Longtermism #EA #EffectiveAltruism #Yudkowsky #AGI #AGIPanic #ExistentialRisk #Bostrom #Häggström #Musk #SiliconValley

https://www.truthdig.com/articles/before-its-too-late-buddy/

This is easily one of the weirdest and most disconcerting papers I read in a long time. It's applying #effectiveAltruism / #longtermism to moral questions of welfare of wild animals.

From the premise that most wild animals lead horrible, Hobbesian lifes (high mortality rates, predation, diseases, pain, etc) it conjures up a moral obligation to "help" them.

By, among others, genetically engineering them to feel less pain.Or, by genetically engineering carnivores into herbivores. All with the breezy enthusiasm of engineering rationality. It's a short version of a full book and not the only one arguing in this direction.

Johannsen, K. (2021) ‘Humanitarian Assistance for Wild Animals’, The Philosophers’ Magazine, 93, pp. 33–37. Available at: https://doi.org/10.5840/tpm20219336

Want to help create a collective vision of resistance to the elitist domination of the future?

Join us 26 Sept at Acud Macht Neu in Berlin for "Trolling AI Doomerism & Longtermism" meetup.

Philosopher and scholar Emile P. Torres (@xriskology) will lead the debate.

Learn more and secure your spot now: https://dnlb.org/ai

#ai #longtermism #TESCREAL #future #transhumanism #elonmusk

Japanese army murderers at Nanking practiced #longtermism .

Heinrich Himmler practiced #longtermism .

From a Speech by Himmler Before Senior SS Officers in Poznan, October 4, 1943 https://www.yadvashem.org/odot_pdf/Microsoft%20Word%20-%204029.pdf

(There is another Himmler speech which makes it even more clear: "we have to do this ugly task so that future generations may prosper", but can't find it anymore)

At the end of the day, it might not be #cyberpunk 's nihilism versus #solarpunk 's utopia.

It might be #TESCREAL 's path to the stars, #longtermism 's view where each of us (and the planet) become expendable cogs, overseen by the rational ruling elites,

versus

#solarpunk , where we hope for federations of messy, anarchist, human-scale communities each deciding their own future in an suboptimal way, but without overlords.

When writing my #solarpunk essay to the Polish ZNAK magazine I was asked to write a section outlining the differences between the movement and #longtermism (together with #effectiveAltruism, #transhumanism and more).

I think it's important to understand what #TESCREAL (a term coined by Timnit Gebru) is and how it might be one of the dominating narratives on our future in the coming years.

A good intro could be https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-acronym-behind-our-wildest-ai-dreams-and-nightmares/ , although I'm sure there are a lot more articles.

This presentation by @timnitGebru, "Eugenics and the Promise of Utopia through AGI", is a concentrated braindump that illustrates the path from centuries of racism and oppression to today's techbro mythology of a technological utopia.
It's also a reminder that people who talk-up "AGI" have ugly ideologies and don't know jack about AI.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7XT4TWLzJw

#AI #ArtificialIntelligence #AGI #LongTermism #TechBros #Eugenics #TESCREAL

#Longtermism and #prolife folks both value potential life equal to currently living people. For me, they matter, but comparatively much less. Moreso depending on how soon they could be here and whether my friends or family will know them. Of course your own "expected child" shuffles that completely, while a very early miscarriage tends to impact parents much less than one near the end of the pregnancy. I think issues remain contentious cause they're about stuff we're uncomfortable talking about.

Oppdaget akkurat at #longtermism har kommet til Norge med et eget "Senter for langsiktighet". Selvfølgelig er Norges premieutiliarist(/-dust) Aksel Braanen Sterri involvert.

Oppdaget akkurat at #longtermism har kommet til Norge med et eget "Senter for langsiktighet". Selvfølgelig er Norges premieutiliarist(/dust) Aksel Braanen Sterri involvert.

Now listening to: Bizarre and Dangerous Utopian Ideology Has Quietly Taken Hold of Tech World

“It’s really important for people to understand what this bundle of ideologies is, because it’s become so hugely influential, and is shaping our world right now, and will continue to shape it for the foreseeable future,” says philosopher and historian Émile P. Torres. In this episode of “Movement Memos,” host Kelly Hayes and Torres discuss what activists should know about longtermism and TESCREAL." @MsKellyMHayes speaking with @xriskology

#longtermism #EffectiveAltruism #AI #TESCREAL #ChatGPT #Podcast #transhumanism #AGI #WhiteSupremacy #Eugenics

https://truthout.org/audio/bizarre-and-dangerous-utopian-ideology-has-quietly-taken-hold-of-tech-world/

Now listening to: Bizarre and Dangerous Utopian Ideology Has Quietly Taken Hold of Tech World

“It’s really important for people to understand what this bundle of ideologies is, because it’s become so hugely influential, and is shaping our world right now, and will continue to shape it for the foreseeable future,” says philosopher and historian Émile P. Torres. In this episode of “Movement Memos,” host Kelly Hayes and Torres discuss what activists should know about longtermism and TESCREAL." @MsKellyMHayes speaking with @xriskology

#longtermism #EffectiveAltruism #AI #TESCREAL #ChatGPT #Podcast

https://truthout.org/audio/bizarre-and-dangerous-utopian-ideology-has-quietly-taken-hold-of-tech-world/

Who DIDN'T know that #Longtermism and #effectivealtruism were treading the well worn path blazed by #WhiteSupremacy but doing it in Keens and Merrells rather than jackpots? Like Blacks and Jews peeped that shit from miles away.

This is a good article on the problem of #Longtermism:

https://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2023/08/longtermism-threat-humanity

#longtermism is just a reboot of #manifestDestiny equipped with space ships, AI, and gene editing

Interesting article on the philosophy of #longtermism.

Longtermists believe that if we create a “friendly” #AI, it will solve all our problems and usher in a utopia, but if the #AI is “misaligned”, it will destroy humanity and, in the process, obliterate our “vast and glorious” future.

#tech #technology #ethics #artificialintelligence

https://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2023/08/longtermism-threat-humanity

Important article on #longtermism the quasi-religion infiltrating Silicon Valley - by @xriskology

https://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2023/08/longtermism-threat-humanity

Fyi @davetroy