A Psychoanalytic Explanation of Sam Altman's Irrational Actions

post by Gabe · 2024-09-29T18:58:13.511Z · LW · GW · 3 comments

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Du sublime au ridicule il n’y a qu’un pas

From the sublime to the ridiculous is but a step

A quote often used to describe Napoleon, Sam Altman is making history rhyme. His cool confidence often gives an air of sublime, and as of last week, it seems he has crossed into the ridiculous. And with the ridiculous, the irrational.

Comparing his past words to the present is confusing. Reading between the lines on his corporate-bureaucratic sounding essay doesn't help much either. Anyone from an outside perspective can see the evidence. He has folded for money. But as obvious as that is, maybe he hasn't realized it himself. Or even more likely, his ego hasn't allowed a concious realization of his bad actions.

Freud characterizes the ego as the unconscious power which holds together an individual’s reality, often through rationalizations of irrational actions to keep the concious reality intact. Altman is clearly being irrational in accord with his past stances and the mission of open AI, but it is hard to tell if he notices. A very plausible explanation is that Altman’s reality and self-image hinge on him being “good.” And for him to be “good” it is necessary he feels he is working towards OpenAI’s stated goals. So, to keep his reality intact, his ego is likely rationalizing his actions, which clearly go against OpenAI’s original goals. This would explain the lack of disclosure about his change in opinions, along with the unexpectedly cold and distant feeling public statements. His rationalization of these actions is being held inside, because unconsciously, he knows as soon as it escapes, it will fall apart, as all unjustified rationalizations do, and this would threaten the ego itself. Therefore, the ego will not let this happen.

According to personal observations, the ego only acts rationally or even exists in the case of repressions. When something is repressed, the reality and the associated emotions are denied access to consciousness, and a corresponding superego forms, with the reality of the individual falling between the repressed emotions and superego. The ego itself plays the middleman between the forces of the repressions, superego, and reality, and will direct aggressive action towards anything which threatens the psychological tranquility which the system rests on.

In Altman's case, it seems a possible repression leading to this case, of justifying behavior that may be to the detriment of humanity, arises from a repression of the idea that he can be “bad.” This likely happened early in his life, and subsequently, his ego and unconscious reality are heavily built on this assumption, that he cannot be "bad", and that he is in fact "good".

This makes perfect sense, as anything suggesting he is bad would become the aggression object of the repression. This would explain the irrational purging of the board and all individuals which have threatened this inner truth. This would also explain justification of actions which are almost definitely bad, like turning a blind eye to existential risk. Of course these two things work together, but the main point is, to keep his reality intact, he is unconsciously eliminating the critics.

The irrational actions taken to preserve the ego can be changed, however. Freud found that free association about a topic would eventually lead to the repressed emotional state surrounding an idea, and if the patient genuinely expressed the emotions while thinking of the repression as presented to them by free associations, the irrational aspects would disappear with the repression. Also, there are many other methods described, and I imagine even more exist today.

So, we want to fix Sam Altman, and make him rational? Send him to a psychotherapist. If we don't, he could conceivably do much worse than he is doing now. I wish the coup worked last November.

Unfortunately, Sam likely will not see a psychotherapist and will likely remain in total control. So, what happens then? Well, assuming he continues his rationalizations of himself as a “good” guy, he will likely profit maximize, and no top talent will want to work with him. I predict as long as he remains in control, OpenAI will lose market share in the long run. They will eventually be overcome. On the contrary, if Sam has a moment where he realizes what he's doing, his reality may fall apart to a certain extent, and he may resign, or radically shift the company.

Either way, I hope he somehow resigns, and a rational person becomes the new leader, and develops super intelligence and AGI. For all our sake.

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