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The original was posted on /r/singularity by /u/ResponsiveSignature on 2024-01-23 00:58:08+00:00.
Original Title: Part of certain people's meaning of life is succeeding at the expense of others. Will AI simulate everyone having their own personal dynasty, or reframe our sense of meaning to one of universal endowment?
It is an invariable conclusion looking at the nature, behavior and desires of humans that there are many of us who have an innate desire to succeed over others, to dominate, be singled out for specialness, to have a sense of unique value, contribution and impact in the world. This varies from person to person, but I believe an element of it is universal.
When singularity arrives, a benevolent machine god would not confer more attention or reward to one human at the expense of another. Everyone will be at the whims of AI far smarter and more impactful than themselves. The era of humans having a unique value in the universe will be over. As a result, the choice becomes either:
- Accept our irrelevance and simulate meaning via meaning/personal utility maximizing full dive VR that gives everyone a perfect feeling of belonging, unique value and impact
- Assent to the natural evolution of agency in the universe and sacrifice one's individual mind/body to a post-human collective machine substrate. This will be essentially an "ascension" into a group-mind, and effectively death
I believe most people will feel that 2 is unnerving and wouldn't pick it right away. They'd think: "I'd rather live out all my deepest desires and biggest dreams in a perfectly meaningful simulation of world that tickles every sublime hope and possible configuration of ultimate meaning. After at least fulfilling those human desires, I could maybe retire to this level of transcendence. This will also be the only way I can experience my "unsafe" desires of conquering/dominating others in a simulated mirage of the world where nobody is hurt".
Consequentially most humans will likely opt-in to a simulated VR-scape for as long as their consciousness can be kept alive, then "transcend" to the infinite when they feel it is time. However, I can't imagine much of human society or the way we think things ought to be from a conventional 21st century perspective surviving either choice. The next 3 years will be everyone's last chance to experience reality as it is.