Re: ESSAY: Forward Moral Nihilism

From: M T (nutralivol@yahoo.co.uk)
Date: Sun May 14 2006 - 06:38:42 MDT


> I propose that the creation of
> benevolent AI is much more than a technical or
> mathematical problem, but is
> ultimately a philosophical problem which requires an
> answer to the question:
> What is Good?

In my humble opinion, a lot of time will be wasted in
the developement of AGI if people try to define Good
in an absolute manner. On a universal (reality wide)
scale, it seems obvious that there is no absolute
Good. There is nothing "absolute", nevermind "good".

There could be Good and Evil when it comes to consious
patterns affecting other consious patterns, but then
barely and purely subjectilvely, since there will be
an underlying process that led to an Evil, non-Good
act. The extreme example is of the much-abused child
that becomes deranged and maims and kills, the more
mundane example is of all the little acts of Evil that
are commited by people with underdeveloped morality
because of their upbringing, (education,
time-spent-thinking, whatever) or some minor
mulfanction in their brain.

The bottom line is that terms like "absolute Good" or
"absolute Evil" are better reserved for a
Dungeons&Dragons universe, where they really exist and
are really absolute.

This universe, alas, is not so simple.

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