YangYing's Shortform

post by YangYing (dmitrii-sherbakov) · 2025-01-02T18:54:04.263Z · LW · GW · 2 comments

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comment by YangYing (dmitrii-sherbakov) · 2025-01-02T13:45:04.533Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

Creating a Harmonious Future: Balancing Comfort and Evolutionary Hunger I believe humanity needs to create an environment where everyone experiences both comfort and evolutionary hunger. This combination provides fertile ground for personal development and confidence in the future. Such an environment should satisfy basic needs, including access to organic, unprocessed food, clean water, housing, education, free movement, basic physical activity, and intellectual growth. In this ideal society, all manual labor would be automated, allowing humans to focus on what truly matters—living in harmony with nature while maintaining a hunger for life. People should engage in creativity, building emotional connections, and raising children with common sense. This balance will foster a society where individuals are both secure and constantly evolving, pushing the boundaries of their potential. However, capitalism, as it stands, obstructs the realization of this vision. Its current form prioritizes profit and control, often at the expense of true human progress and harmony. Is it time to rethink the way corporations and governing systems operate? Should we replace them with structures that better serve humanity’s long-term interests, focusing on sustainability and personal growth? These are questions we must ask ourselves if we are to transition to a future where technological advancements free us from repetitive labor, and we can focus on our higher purposes—intellectual, emotional, and creative development. What are your thoughts on how we can make this shift in a world dominated by capitalism?

Replies from: Viliam
comment by Viliam · 2025-01-15T15:33:41.266Z · LW(p) · GW(p)

What do you mean by "hunger for life"?

What do you mean by "capitalism"?

If you basically mean that machines should help us overcome scarcity, and then everyone should be able to focus on games, friendship, learning, et cetera... sure, why not?

But first we need to make sure the machines won't kill us all when they get smarter than us and start controlling the wold. (Because if they do, it doesn't matter how our corporations and governments were set up.)

However, capitalism, as it stands, obstructs the realization of this vision.

So far, the attempts to replace capitalism often did even worse.

One problem - scarcity. Usually made worse by eliminating capitalism.

Second problem - humans. Psychopaths compete for power, in both capitalism and socialism. We need to solve this. Democracy alone is not a solution; psychopaths are quite successful at getting elected, or getting their people elected.

Is it time to rethink the way corporations and governing systems operate?

I believe people are thinking about this all the time, but do you have a specific proposal that wasn't widely considered yet?