Re: The Second American Civil War

Eliezer Yudkowsky (sentience@pobox.com)
Mon, 23 Dec 1996 19:32:11 -0600

> > If I come up with cheap synthetic willpower (see "Algernon's Law", "Will
> > of Iron"), I'll be sure to distribute it. I've discovered the Meaning
> > of Life; that may help. As a social engineer, I'm a relative amateur,
> > but there are still some methods of positive feedback I could employ.
>
> Heh. You _are_ an amatuer if you're looking for positive feedback
> solutions. You are directed to read just about any engineering
> textbook on modern control theory, if you have not done so already,
> that you might understand why systems with positive feedback only tend
> toward instability.
...saith he to Mr. Singularity.

I was thinking, for example, of amatory selectiveness on the part of
teenage girls. If mates are chosen indiscriminately and there is no
chance of getting a supportive one, the proper strategy is to mate early
and often. That's the current positive feedback, in the wrong
direction, and that
*does* create social instability. If mates are being chosen for their
supportiveness, more selectiveness is appropos. The best part of this
positive feedback is that it operates on the derivative; if we can get
the process to reverse itself only a little, it's self-sustaining.

-- 
         sentience@pobox.com      Eliezer S. Yudkowsky
          http://tezcat.com/~eliezer/singularity.html
           http://tezcat.com/~eliezer/algernon.html
Disclaimer:  Unless otherwise specified, I'm not telling you
everything I think I know.