It is about the tragedy of the commons and what it implies when self-modification becomes possible, such as genetic engineering in humans and recursive self-imp

It is about the tragedy of the commons and what it implies when self-modification becomes possible, such as genetic engineering in humans and recursive self-improvement in potential future AIs. That essay is a hell of a piece or writing. It didn't so much change my object-level policy opinions for the here and now, but it ripped the heart out of my Libertarianism. I've always found markets and selection beautiful and fascinating and powerful, which is all true. But I also thought they had a teleology that was humanistic. This is false. To the extent this seems true now, it is only because humans are the current hardware markets are running on. Fundamentally, they are not our side in the long term. I have found few pieces of writing more powerful: http://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/ http://slatestarcodex.com/2014/07/30/meditations-on-moloch/ Nick Bostrom explores similar themes in The Future of Human Evolution: https://nickbostrom.com/fut/evolution.html https://nickbostrom.com/fut/evolution.html