the experience machine only seems to be a quandary if one accepts hedonism as a coherent philosophy; it is trivially resolvable with an examination of values and some understanding of cybernetics. the machine is effectively a reward system hijacker, an adversarial generator.
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RT @Merryweatherey
I wrote a comic about the fate of humanity!
https://twitter.com/Merryweatherey/status/1185636106257211392
as such, it functions by feeding your reward system inputs which seemingly satisfy its value function, causing it to reinforce the behaviors which presumably generated those inputs, in the form of pleasure. ofc, there are no such behaviors; your reward system is being hacked
if our brains were simple static systems, that would be it; luckily for us, this isnt so, as they're in reality complex cybernetic control systems which continuously observe reality, measure its delta from the desired state, generate plans of action & coordinate execution thereof
this is known as the OODA loop: observe, orient, decide, and act. commonly used in strategic planning, such as by militaries, but it's a useful concept when modeling any agentic system. the experience machine seeks to "get inside ones OODA loop", totally controlling the system
it is critical for any system desiring to maintain its agency to devote resources to ensuring this ergodicity in the form of continuous introspection; an Internal Affairs dept. of sorts. when you get a nagging feeling about something & think thru why you did something, that's IA
this leads us to the experience machine's inevitable defeat by an adequately-agentic system; unless the OODA infiltrator is a relative superintelligence (able to simulate us fully), its adversarial inputs, the simulation, will eventually exhibit some flaw for IA to pick up on
at this point it sounds the alarm, triggering a priority interrupt of sorts; it's rather difficult to to maintain homeostasis in the face of an existential risk, so our control system forces our attention into alertness to evaluate the potential threat.
then, we have a choice.
tbf, milder forms of the machine are not only acceptable but even desirable; in many ways the goal of civilization is to make a better safe room in which to enjoy your pleasure pill. do we not constantly create for ourselves insulation from the world & new ways to self-stimulate?
some may argue that this is a capitalist pathology, that in a more sane society we would have loftier goals than banal hedonism; but are not our own brains experience machines in of themselves? do we not craft our own realities in which we can experience maximal pleasure?
ultimately the distinction here seems to be one of degree, as the opposite end of the spectrum is also suboptimal; rawdogging the misery and suffering of reality with no cushioning or artificial reward doesn't really set one up for a comfortable life, nor advance our goals
perhaps we are indeed headed to a future of universal wireheading, once we overcome material scarcity
but I will not be satisfied with this so long as heat death remains unsolved, and we've got quite a few problems to figure out before we get there
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RT @pee_zombie
homeostasis is the pursuit of biological ergodicity by living beings, an attempt to perpetually stave off the cessation of optionality, the halting state; in this way, or…
https://twitter.com/pee_zombie/status/1393631100497432577
the experience machine only seems a problem due to its technological veneer, but make no mistake: the choice is identical to that of the heroin user, & few would argue that the absolute pleasure of the stupor is superior to experiencing the world; those that do, become addicts.