Theoretical Priorities
A preliminary essay about the value of dealing with First World self-actualization problems. I seem to write a lot of preliminary essays.
I’m into it
I don’t know if I share you optimism when it comes to “actually solving our material problems through the sheer awesomeness of our applied science” - but that could also be a matter or degree, since things are pretty clearly better on this front than they were 200 years ago.
But yeah fun theory is one of the rationalist projects I’m actually object level interested in, rather than a thing that is fun to argue about or whatever. I think I also diverge pretty heavily from the bay area rationalist mainstream in what I think that means, but then I’m not actually up on the current state of the art.
Yeah…
…sigh.
I dunno how far out of reach a post-scarcity society really is. Certainly I’ve heard plenty of arguments that it’s doomed just based on finite-resource considerations (oil, rare earths, whatever). Maybe it is. If so, I probably don’t have much to contribute besides Pretty Art; my theorizing has really not been optimized for dealing with the difficult concrete problems of a fallen world.
But I’m pretty sure that, even if a post-scarcity society were to prove totally plausible, organizing things along sane post-scarcity lines would face a lot of opposition from rich and powerful people who would prefer not to be submerged into a sea of equality. Which means that it might be really nice if someone offered up a solution for the psychic woes of modern life that’s better than “be top dog in the Pit of Misery.”