Philosophy bear

Philosophy Bear, initially de Pony Sum, explores a diverse range of subjects spanning philosophy, politics, psychology, and more, with a critical lens on current societal issues, ethical considerations, and future implications. It examines AI development, self-promotion, existential risks, self-defense, and the dynamics of societal standards and behaviors, offering insights into human morality, political economy, and the interplay between technology and society.

Philosophy Politics Psychology Ethics Artificial Intelligence Societal Issues Economic Theories Human Behavior Technological Implications Moral Philosophy

The hottest Substack posts of Philosophy bear

And their main takeaways

Aella: In defence of a birthday girl

180 implied HN points • 05 Mar 24
📖 Philosophy Ethics Existence Morality Values Meaning
  1. Many criticize Aella for her promiscuous sex life, but it's essential to understand differing views on sexuality and values.
  2. Aella challenges traditional norms by living authentically and making unconventional choices, aiming to achieve her own goals instead of following societal scripts.
  3. Aella's approach to sex involves exploring different facets of eroticism, like performatively de-eroticizing sex to intensify its significance and linking it with scientific exploration.

Portubots and Englifleshes: Why comparative advantage won't ensure humans always have jobs

90 implied HN points • 16 Mar 24
📖 Philosophy AI Economics Robotics
  1. Comparative advantage theory doesn't guarantee that humans will always have jobs, even if robots are better at everything.
  2. In a world where robots excel at tasks, they will specialize in areas of greater efficiency, leaving tasks with smaller disadvantages for humans.
  3. Human labor being displaced by machines poses challenges, and comparative advantage alone may not ensure employment for humans in all scenarios.

Personal updates

139 implied HN points • 26 Feb 24
📖 Philosophy
  1. The author is being awarded a PhD thesis without revisions, a significant achievement
  2. The author is seeking part-time work in greater Sydney or remotely for 2-3 years while publishing papers
  3. The author expresses interest in meeting readers in Sydney for a coffee

The moral urgency of a good study on cold showers and depression & anxiety

62 implied HN points • 14 Mar 24
🏥 Health & Wellness Mental health Alternative Medicine Research Well-being Self-care
  1. A good study on the potential benefits of cold showers for mood disorders like depression and anxiety is urgently needed.
  2. Previous studies have shown promising results, but a comprehensive study is still lacking, presenting an opportunity for significant positive impact.
  3. Running a study on the effects of cold showers could be a low-cost initiative that may potentially help millions suffering from mood disorders.
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Impartial giving, a la Effective Alturism, is not a politically neutral idea (v. short)

76 implied HN points • 01 Mar 24
📖 Philosophy Ethics Political theory
  1. Leftwing respondents were more likely to display ethical impartiality, showing a strong association between politics and impartial altruism.
  2. Effective Altruism's self-image as neutral or centrist is contradicted by the political alignment of EA survey respondents.
  3. Impartial compassion manifests differently between left and right political ideologies, with rightwing individuals more likely to reject impartiality.

A bear is confused about desire

90 implied HN points • 22 Feb 24
📖 Philosophy Existence Desire Life Suffering Acceptance
  1. Existence involves desire and dissatisfaction, driving us to act and change things.
  2. While seeking equilibrium is important, it's crucial to differentiate between beneficial dissatisfaction that leads to growth and harmful sorrow caused by unmet needs.
  3. Striving for a balance where we can embrace life's joys and sorrows without clinging too tightly, seeking a state of desirelessness without losing the essence of existence.

Most general advice is bad: A conjecture

90 implied HN points • 02 Feb 24
📖 Philosophy Advice Behavior
  1. General, non-specific advice can often lead people to extreme behaviors.
  2. Platitudinous advice might unintentionally encourage individuals to avoid questioning their actions.
  3. Many times, individuals who already lean towards a certain extreme are more likely to resonate with advice that supports that extreme.

The ethical is the political

62 implied HN points • 19 Feb 24
📖 Philosophy Ethics Politics Consequentialism Research
  1. There is a strong relationship between political and ethical beliefs.
  2. Consequentialism often aligns with political views, and there is a need to debunk misconceptions about it.
  3. Philosophers should consider the impact of impartiality and partiality on political ideologies and delve deeper into the debate over consequentialism.

Introducing cogiatics (short)

83 implied HN points • 30 Jan 24
📖 Philosophy Thoughts Evolution Psychology
  1. Cogiatics is the study of how thoughts evolve within an individual, different from memetics.
  2. Factors like fascination, emotional valence, and usefulness determine the selection of thoughts.
  3. Studying how thoughts evolve is underdone due to lack of introspection and under-theorized natural selection.

Moral breadth

104 implied HN points • 10 Jan 24
📖 Philosophy Morality Human nature Perception Ethics Self-awareness
  1. Seeing people with moral breadth means understanding they can be both good and bad.
  2. Not acknowledging moral breadth can lead to negative consequences like overlooking bad behavior.
  3. Balancing moral breadth involves recognizing both the good and bad in people, without minimizing either.

Stop trying to restrict the meaning of slavery

104 implied HN points • 02 Jan 24
📖 Philosophy Ethics Definitions Principles
  1. Slavery should not be restricted to just hereditary chattel slavery, but also include forced labor.
  2. To define slavery, consider the moral wrong and condition of enslavement, not just legal technicalities.
  3. Forced labor, even for criminals, can still be considered a form of slavery based on the moral wrong it represents.

On creativity and language models

48 implied HN points • 15 Feb 24
🔬 Science AI Creativity Language Models Philosophy
  1. Creativity involves putting things together in a new way, whether it's useful, thoughtful, beautiful, or admirable. It's all about recombining existing elements.
  2. The level of creativity depends on how new and good something is. Any new sentence can be seen as somewhat creative, but the degree varies.
  3. There doesn't seem to be a definite line between different levels of creativity; they all involve rearrangements of existing elements. It's a spectrum of newness and usefulness.

Organic & compositus belief

69 implied HN points • 21 Jan 24
📖 Philosophy Beliefs Ideologies Thinking Revision Criticism
  1. Beliefs can be organic or compositus, with different approaches to spreading and defending them
  2. Organic beliefs are more open and less defensive than compositus beliefs, making them better at adapting and working with other ideas
  3. Compositus beliefs can lead to group fragmentation under tough times, while organic beliefs are more adaptable and open to revision

I have access to Claude-3 Opus, a (seemingly) considerably more advanced model than GPT-4, ask it anything

27 implied HN points • 05 Mar 24
🕹 Technology AI Models Artificial Intelligence Data Machine Learning
  1. Claude-3 Opus is a highly advanced model compared to GPT-4, especially in reasoning capabilities, scoring impressively on GPQA and other tests.
  2. The model's knowledge base is top-notch, performing as well as or better than a graduate student with Google access in specific sciences.
  3. Questions posed to Claude-3 Opus should be challenging, aiming for queries that most people would answer correctly but the model might get wrong, to reveal its strengths and weaknesses.

Too technical to care

41 implied HN points • 04 Feb 24
  1. Some philosophical problems are too technical to significantly impact ethical orientation
  2. Technical objections can help illuminate other issues but may not directly affect ethical behavior
  3. Drawing the line between technical objections and those that cut to the heart of ethics is important

Inadmissable knowledge: Introducing a concept

104 implied HN points • 11 Nov 23
📖 Philosophy Ethics Knowledge Consequentialism
  1. Inadmissible knowledge refers to information that should not be considered in certain contexts to avoid unethical decisions.
  2. In some cases, what is inadmissible in one situation may become admissible in another, depending on the impact of possible harms.
  3. Using inadmissible knowledge may create an obligation to act tactfully and with kindness, especially in exceptions to its application.

Some predictions about the future of AI safety and EA if the current trajectory continues

90 implied HN points • 24 Nov 23
📖 Philosophy AI safety Politics Predictions
  1. AI safety could become a left-wing issue, with corporations unlikely to sustain alliances with safety proponents in the long run.
  2. There may be a split within Effective Altruism due to relationships with corporations, leading to a 'left' and 'right' division.
  3. The AI safety field might divide into accommodationist and regulation-leaning factions, reflecting broader political trends.

Survey

13 implied HN points • 08 Feb 24
  1. The survey on philosophybear.substack.com explores political and ethical attitudes.
  2. The survey includes distressing questions related to violence, death, and family.
  3. Participation in the survey is voluntary and the results will be used for analysis on the blog.

A general argument for the left

83 implied HN points • 24 Aug 23
📖 Philosophy Political Ideologies Ethics Social Issues Utilitarianism
  1. The main challenge is the significant polarization in politics, raising a question of reliability of conflicting propositions from different sides.
  2. Historically, movements favoring the weak have been vindicated, indicating a common theme of standing up for underdogs.
  3. Utilitarian perspective suggests prioritizing the needs of the weak over the strong for a greater good.

I don't think there's a conspiracy among AI scientists to trick the public into thinking AI might kill everyone

118 implied HN points • 02 Jun 23
📖 Philosophy Ethics Existentialism Beliefs
  1. Senior AI scientists emphasize the importance of addressing AI risks alongside other societal risks.
  2. There are doubts about whether AI scientists have ulterior motives in expressing concerns about AI risks.
  3. Even if the likelihood of AI risks is low, the potential consequences are severe enough to warrant serious attention and action.