lessdazed comments on To what degree do we have goals? - Less Wrong

45 Post author: Yvain 15 July 2011 11:11PM

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Comment author: lessdazed 21 July 2011 07:34:39AM 2 points [-]

...folk-ethical intuitions that clash with seemingly clear-cut consequentialist arguments may in fact be instances of such decision algorithms, and thus in fact serving non-obvious but critically important functions in practice.

Is it fair to say that they are common to the extent they self-replicate, and that usefulness to the host is one important factor in each algorithm's chance to exist? An important factor, but only one; only one factor, but an important one?