Jef_Allbright comments on Ends Don't Justify Means (Among Humans) - Less Wrong

44 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 14 October 2008 09:00PM

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Comment author: Jef_Allbright 15 October 2008 08:45:10PM 0 points [-]

@Cyan: "Hostile hardware", meaning that an agent's values-complex (essentially the agent's nature, driving its actions) contains elements misaligned (even to the extent of being in internal opposition on some level(s) of the complex hierarchy of values) is addressed by my formulation in the "increasing coherence" term. Then, I did try to convey how this is applicable to any moral agent, regardless of form, substrate, or subjective starting point.

I'm tempted to use n's very nice elucidation of the specific example of political corruption to illustrate my general formulation (politician's relatively narrow context of values, relatively incoherent if merged with his constituents' values, scope of consequences amplified disproportionately by the increased instrumental effectiveness of his office) but I think I'd better let it go at this. [Following the same moral reasoning applied to my own relatively narrow context of values with respect to the broader forum, etc.]