4 ms·

Corporations are not humans. And while sociopaths - who benefit the most from corporations - technically are humans, I don't consider them parts of humanity, m

Corporations are not humans. And while sociopaths - who benefit the most from corporations - technically are humans, I don't consider them parts of humanity, more like a cancer tissue on top of it. So whatever benefit humanity gets is more than cancelled by the growing cancer.

TeMPOraL 6mo ago
So I am to assume you're not using LLMs yourself, or any technology employing those models in the pipeline (which at this point includes many features in smartphones made in the last 3 years)? If that's not the case, then you are a beneficiary too.
- cyclopeanutopia 6mo ago
  There are some local benefits, there are some local and global costs. My point is that we are in a strongly net negative situation, mr Jack.
- balamatom 6mo ago
  "Samantha Altgirl and the Involuntary Beneficiaries" (Russian doomer band)
- card_zero 6mo ago
  Is the argument "LLMs must be greatly beneficial because they get everywhere"?
balamatom 6mo ago
The concept of "sociopaths" is more of a cop-out than anything. It amounts to a (vaguely pseudoscientific) dehumanization of those whose modus operandi transgresses our values most severely. Imagining a subset of the population as literal cancer cells does not help us understand better the systemic issue which makes those people benefit disproportionately from metahuman entities (such as corporations or political agglomerations).
- cyclopeanutopia 6mo ago
  It does help us a lot, actually, and the treatment should be analogical. It's not a cop-out, it's reality. Including sociopaths in humanity benefits and protects only them. And it renders the rest of us - their victims - powerless. If as a society in general we agree that we have a right to keep serious transgressors in prisons, then we should seriously consider keeping there people who are fundamentally incapable of aligning with humanity values - the golden rule of reciprocity in particular.
  - balamatom 6mo ago
    Tell me you follow a value system invented by sociopaths without... actually reflecting on what value system you follow, and whether you chose it intentionally - or just bought into it by following the path of least resistance and are now inextricably stuck. As a society in general, do you agree that unjust laws, false positives in enforcement, prison slavery, and endemic rampant abuse of authority, are things that exist? As a society in general, do you think those are a legitimate price to pay "to keep serious transgressors in prisons"? As a society in general, do you think serious transgressors more often get locked up for life, or more often get a slap on the wrist and a quiet promotion to more serious transgressors? As a society in general, how do you know - falsifiably! - that prisons are even effective for their stated purpose? Just like prisons perpetuate crime, excluding sociopaths and their behavior from what is thinkable as human only permits us to ignore them. And to contrive our own excuses for their sub-criminal abusive behaviors - which is the primary way in which they blend in and remain beyond reproach. You are their enabler. Go figure out how to stop being that.
    - cindyllm 6mo ago
      [dead]
- pocksuppet 6mo ago
  What are cancer cells, but a subset of cells whose modus operandi transgresses our values? They're not some unique abomination, and I think the analogy is apt.

TeMPOraL 6mo ago

So I am to assume you're not using LLMs yourself, or any technology employing those models in the pipeline (which at this point includes many features in smartphones made in the last 3 years)? If that's not the case, then you are a beneficiary too.

cyclopeanutopia 6mo ago
There are some local benefits, there are some local and global costs. My point is that we are in a strongly net negative situation, mr Jack.
balamatom 6mo ago
"Samantha Altgirl and the Involuntary Beneficiaries" (Russian doomer band)
card_zero 6mo ago
Is the argument "LLMs must be greatly beneficial because they get everywhere"?

balamatom 6mo ago

The concept of "sociopaths" is more of a cop-out than anything. It amounts to a (vaguely pseudoscientific) dehumanization of those whose modus operandi transgresses our values most severely. Imagining a subset of the population as literal cancer cells does not help us understand better the systemic issue which makes those people benefit disproportionately from metahuman entities (such as corporations or political agglomerations).

cyclopeanutopia 6mo ago
It does help us a lot, actually, and the treatment should be analogical. It's not a cop-out, it's reality. Including sociopaths in humanity benefits and protects only them. And it renders the rest of us - their victims - powerless. If as a society in general we agree that we have a right to keep serious transgressors in prisons, then we should seriously consider keeping there people who are fundamentally incapable of aligning with humanity values - the golden rule of reciprocity in particular.
- balamatom 6mo ago
  Tell me you follow a value system invented by sociopaths without... actually reflecting on what value system you follow, and whether you chose it intentionally - or just bought into it by following the path of least resistance and are now inextricably stuck. As a society in general, do you agree that unjust laws, false positives in enforcement, prison slavery, and endemic rampant abuse of authority, are things that exist? As a society in general, do you think those are a legitimate price to pay "to keep serious transgressors in prisons"? As a society in general, do you think serious transgressors more often get locked up for life, or more often get a slap on the wrist and a quiet promotion to more serious transgressors? As a society in general, how do you know - falsifiably! - that prisons are even effective for their stated purpose? Just like prisons perpetuate crime, excluding sociopaths and their behavior from what is thinkable as human only permits us to ignore them. And to contrive our own excuses for their sub-criminal abusive behaviors - which is the primary way in which they blend in and remain beyond reproach. You are their enabler. Go figure out how to stop being that.
  - cindyllm 6mo ago
    [dead]
pocksuppet 6mo ago
What are cancer cells, but a subset of cells whose modus operandi transgresses our values? They're not some unique abomination, and I think the analogy is apt.