The hottest Ethics Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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Top Science Topics

Electrons, Alternate Universes, and the Ontological Commitments of Physics: A Handy Guide to Hossenfelder vs. Goff

Philosophy for the People w/Ben Burgis • 319 implied HN points • 03 Dec 23
📖 Philosophy Physics Ontology Debate Twitter Ethics
  1. Philosopher Philip Goff and physicist Sabine Hossenfelder concluded their Twitter debate on electrons and alternate universes.
  2. The discussion highlights the intersection of philosophy and physics in understanding ontological commitments.
  3. The resolution between Goff and Hossenfelder signifies an end to the Great Electron Twitter War of 2023.

AI, The Idiot Ant Queen

Desystemize • 1404 implied HN points • 07 Mar 23
🕹 Technology AI Ethics Science Engineering Data
  1. Artificial intelligence could lead to a loss of understanding and agency in decision-making
  2. AI ethics issues stem from existing power imbalances and biases, not just the capabilities of AI systems
  3. The real concern with AI is the potential control it may have over societal institutions, impacting human autonomy and decision-making

Susan Wolf's Critique of Moral Saints

Philosophy for the People w/Ben Burgis • 159 implied HN points • 11 Mar 24
📖 Philosophy Ethics
  1. Susan Wolf argues against the ideal of moral saintliness, suggesting it may not be practical or necessary for everyone.
  2. Most people will not achieve moral sainthood, and that's okay because it's an unattainable level of perfection.
  3. While being a moral saint may be unattainable, striving for greater moral virtue could lead to a better society overall.
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Parfit, by David Edmonds

The Common Reader • 1169 implied HN points • 11 May 23
📚 Literature Philosophy Biography Ethics Influence Interpretation
  1. Derek Parfit is a highly influential philosopher in moral philosophy, but relatively unknown outside academic circles.
  2. Parfit's life and philosophy are intertwined, with his actions reflecting his beliefs in altruism and empathy.
  3. Parfit's approach to personal identity and philosophy, as depicted in a new biography by David Edmonds, raises thought-provoking questions about selflessness and dedication.

December 23, 2024

Letters from an American • 18 implied HN points • 24 Dec 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Elections Legislation Political parties Ethics Government
  1. Former representative Matt Gaetz was found to have engaged in significant unethical behavior while in office, including sexual misconduct and drug use. The Ethics Committee concluded he violated laws and House rules.
  2. The Republican Party's support for Gaetz, despite the findings, highlights a troubling trend where party loyalty overrides accountability. This situation shows how problematic behavior can be overlooked when one party has excessive control.
  3. Trump's recent comments about reclaiming territories like the Panama Canal and Greenland raise concerns about his approach to foreign policy. Such statements could undermine established principles of national sovereignty and global diplomacy.

The Road to Hell, part 1 of 3

Thoughts on Writing • 459 implied HN points • 19 Jun 23
💼 Business Branding Ethics Marketing Capitalism
  1. Purpose in business, particularly social purpose, can lead to flawed ethical thinking and potentially negative outcomes.
  2. The concept of purpose emerged as a response to the reputational crisis faced by big businesses post-2008 financial crisis, aiming to portray them as 'good guys'.
  3. The purpose movement in business and marketing gained momentum in the 2010s but led to questionable outcomes, showcasing a gap between feel-good stories and harsh realities.

The Room and Matt Christman

De Pony Sum • 412 implied HN points • 27 Sep 23
📖 Philosophy Existentialism Ethics Morality Politics Metaethics
  1. Matt Christman deserves appreciation for his understanding of societal injustices and the need for change.
  2. The analogy of a room with limited democracy, resources, healthcare, and foreign policy mirrors the inequalities present in the world.
  3. The message conveyed by Christman emphasizes the importance of solidarity, shared humanity, and the power to create a better world.

Gentleness and the artificial Other

Joe Carlsmith's Substack • 255 implied HN points • 02 Jan 24
🕹 Technology AI Ethics Sentience Creatures Intelligence
  1. Artificial intelligence poses a significant risk as a potential second advanced species on Earth.
  2. Approaching AI with care and reverence, like interacting with other intelligent species, is crucial.
  3. Understanding the complexity and potential sentience of AI is key, as they may not be mere powerful machines but complex, fascinating entities.

Lord Verulam's Idols

Fields & Energy • 279 implied HN points • 18 Dec 23
📖 Philosophy Science Ethics History Literature Education
  1. Francis Bacon proposed a new idea of science that focused on human control over nature and knowledge. His vision was about creating a scholarly place that could influence society.
  2. Bacon is often labeled as the 'Father of Scientism' rather than the father of modern science. This suggests that his ideas shaped more than just scientific methods; they also influenced how we think about science and its role in society.
  3. Literature like Bacon's work, along with stories like 'Brave New World' and '1984,' can serve as warnings about the dangers of letting scientism dominate our lives. They encourage us to think critically about where scientific progress is leading us.

Some Episodic Memories of Issues in Philosophy of Memory 4

The Memory Palace • 39 implied HN points • 02 Jul 24
📖 Philosophy Memory Ethics Research Education Community
  1. The conference focused on many topics related to memory, including how moral values can affect the way we understand our memories. It highlighted the idea that some accurate memories might still cause harm, which makes them less genuine.
  2. Memory is not just an individual experience; it's also social. Speakers discussed how memories can change through interactions with others, helping to foster communication and resolve conflicts.
  3. The event encouraged sharing personal experiences about memory, inviting attendees to reflect on their own thoughts and insights. It created a sense of community among researchers passionate about exploring the complexities of memory.

You're so smart

Becoming Noble • 398 implied HN points • 07 Jul 23
📖 Philosophy Ideas Religion Morality Existence Ethics
  1. The author highlights the importance of encouraging readers to engage in thoughtful discussions and voice their opinions.
  2. There is a discussion on academia's need for a more formal network and standards, similar to a sacred order, to enhance knowledge sharing.
  3. The post delves into the complexities surrounding AI and how it impacts society biologically and socially, urging a deeper understanding of the system's dynamics.

The Left Has a Problem with Cheaters

Dilan’s Newsletter • 393 implied HN points • 01 Mar 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Society Ethics Enforcement Movement Inequality
  1. Cheating is a significant issue on the Left, affecting various areas like academic testing and benefits programs.
  2. Enforcing rules against cheating is crucial to maintain fairness and prevent resentment among those who follow the rules.
  3. The Left, while supporting programs to help disadvantaged individuals, often struggles with implementing effective enforcement mechanisms against cheaters.

AI as Symptom and Dream

SCIENCE GODDESS • 393 implied HN points • 08 May 23
🕹 Technology AI Ethics Workforce Community Data
  1. Many AI researchers are calling for a pause in advanced AI research due to concerns about potential apocalyptic scenarios.
  2. There is a need to question the motives and proposed solutions of prominent AI organizations and figureheads.
  3. Ethical considerations around AI should focus on issues like worker exploitation and power concentration, rather than just sensationalized fears of AI surpassing humanity.

The Role of Mood in User Experience Design

UX Psychology • 218 implied HN points • 19 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Design User Experience Ethics
  1. Understanding user mood is crucial in user experience design as it influences interactions over time.
  2. Moods can be monitored, expressed, and regulated in UX design to create more personalized and empathetic experiences.
  3. Implementing mood-focused strategies requires considering ethical challenges, personalization opportunities, and continuous testing.

Recent Media Appearances

Good Thoughts • 216 implied HN points • 20 Jan 24
📖 Philosophy Ethics Epistemology Metaphysics
  1. Recent public philosophy discussions cover effective altruism, longtermism, and synthetic a priori knowledge.
  2. Critical discussion on the reliance on supernatural forces in discerning philosophical truths.
  3. Rejecting the causal debunking principle in favor of relying on coherent philosophical methods for truth-seeking.

Fraudulent DMCA Takedown Submitted to Hide Details of Felony Domestic Violence Arrest of Premise CEO Delwin Maury Blackman

All-Source Intelligence Fusion • 590 implied HN points • 20 Nov 23
📰 News Legal issues Crime Journalism Ethics
  1. A fraudulent DMCA takedown request was submitted to hide details of a CEO's felony domestic violence arrest.
  2. The fraudulent request involved purposefully sloppy English and impersonation of the author.
  3. Despite the request's clear falsity, the hosting service complied to minimize legal liability.

The Google Gemini Debacle Shows Us Why Office Politics Matters More Than Ever

The Ruffian • 393 implied HN points • 28 Feb 24
🕹 Technology AI Ethics Culture Workplace Values
  1. Understanding the cultural and political worldview of staff compared to users is critical for companies, especially in today's politicized environment.
  2. AI companies need to consider and be transparent about their cultural politics to address the challenge of aligning AI values with those of society.
  3. The alignment problem for AI companies extends beyond just aligning values with humanity, and it involves understanding different clusters of values and varying cultural perspectives.

Book excerpt: Death Row Welcomes You, by Steven Hale

The Watch • 366 implied HN points • 11 Mar 24
📚 Literature Journalism Storytelling Ethics Humanity Injustice
  1. Tennessee has increased its rate of executions recently, despite questions about the fairness and transparency of the process.
  2. Journalists covering the death penalty face challenges in maintaining objectivity and dealing with the emotional toll of witnessing executions.
  3. The book 'Death Row Welcomes You' by Steven Hale sheds light on the humanity and compassion present in the community of people who connect with death row inmates, despite the harsh reality of the system.

AI rights and human harms

imperfect offerings • 219 implied HN points • 17 Jan 24
🕹 Technology AI Ethics Rights Law Human Rights
  1. AI industry co-opts the term 'learning' to justify its innovations and obscure responsibilities
  2. There is a call for an AI rights movement, drawing parallels with animal rights that may oversimplify complex ethical issues
  3. Human rights are at risk when powerful corporations prioritize their interests over accountability and regulation in the development and deployment of AI technology

Watching Football with Friends

Opaque Hourglass • 239 implied HN points • 01 Jan 24
🎭️ Culture Sports Philosophy Friendship Communication Ethics
  1. Expressing complex thoughts or feelings can be challenging, especially when others may not understand.
  2. Articulating your viewpoints through writing can help clarify your ideas and potentially facilitate better communication with others.
  3. Seeking to convey deeper meanings behind your beliefs or emotions, even if not fully reciprocated, can lead to a sense of connection and understanding.

Why I Don't Buy The Moral Argument

Bentham's Newsletter • 196 implied HN points • 29 Jan 24
📖 Philosophy Ethics Theism Atheism Morality Existence
  1. The traditional moral argument for the existence of God is not convincing because the premise that without God, objective moral values do not exist is not plausible for all.
  2. Having God as the source of morality does not provide a satisfactory grounding for morality as it creates more questions and issues.
  3. Explaining the existence of moral facts by positing God as the source is as arbitrary as positing other explanations like pleasure being good.

The Revaluation of All Values, Part 4

Intimations of a New Worldview • 373 implied HN points • 14 Mar 23
📖 Philosophy Metaphysics Ethics Empiricism Influence
  1. The will to power is a metaphysical doctrine similar to Heraclitus' Logos and Schopenhauer's primacy of the will.
  2. Nietzsche's will to power aims to promote and justify the flourishing of life, opposing pessimistic philosophies like Schopenhauer.
  3. The will to power is based on empirical findings in biology and psychology, generalizing to explain all aspects of life.

What Would Ayn Rand Say About Existential Risk From Misaligned AI?

The Future of Life • 39 implied HN points • 28 Jun 24
📖 Philosophy Ethics Existentialism AI Risk Rationality
  1. Ayn Rand's Objectivism suggests that intelligence and morality are connected. This means that a superintelligent AI could likely develop values that align with human rights.
  2. The Orthogonality thesis argues that intelligence and goals are separate. However, from an Objectivist viewpoint, a really smart being would need to adopt certain virtues to be effective.
  3. Even if an AI is intelligent, it doesn't mean it will care about humans. There’s no guarantee an advanced AI would think our survival is important, even if it acts morally toward other intelligences.

How AI becomes biased, visually explained 🐧

Year 2049 • 8 implied HN points • 17 Jan 25
🕹 Technology AI Bias Data Learning Ethics
  1. AI can show bias based on how it learns from the data given to it. If the data contains biases, the AI will likely reflect those biases in its decisions.
  2. Using simple examples, like a penguin metaphor, helps explain complex AI concepts. It's easier to understand difficult ideas with relatable stories.
  3. It's important to be aware of AI bias as it affects how AI technologies interact with people. Being educated about these biases can lead to better, fairer AI development.

A misleading open letter about sci-fi AI dangers ignores the real risks

AI Snake Oil • 1171 implied HN points • 29 Mar 23
🕹 Technology AI Ethics Security Policy Risk
  1. Misinformation, labor impact, and safety are key AI risks raised in an open letter.
  2. Speculative risks like malicious disinformation campaigns overlook real harm caused by over-reliance on AI tools.
  3. Addressing near-term security risks from AI integration into real-world applications is crucial, and the containment mindset may not be effective.

Import AI 329: Compute IS data; don't build AI agents; AI needs a precautionary principle

Import AI • 399 implied HN points • 15 May 23
🕹 Technology AI Data Ethics Language Models AI Development
  1. Building AI scientists to advise humans is a safer alternative to building AI agents that act independently
  2. There is a need for a precautionary principle in AI development to address threats to democracy, peace, safety, and work
  3. Approaches like Self-Align show the potential for AI systems to self-bootstrap using synthetic data, leading to more capable models

A proposal for importing society’s values

Musings on the Alignment Problem • 519 implied HN points • 09 Mar 23
🕹 Technology AI Ethics Simulation Social Decision-making
  1. AI systems like ChatGPT face value-based decisions that are complex and can be polarizing, highlighting the need to align AI to individual and group preferences.
  2. A proposed process called simulated deliberative democracy aims to use large language models to simulate human deliberations on value questions, offering a scalable and transparent approach.
  3. The proposal presents pros like scalability, transparency, and potential for inclusivity, but also faces challenges such as representativeness, aggregation method complexities, and difficulties in simulating how people change their minds.

Swimming in the Tensions

Cybernetic Forests • 199 implied HN points • 21 Jan 24
🎨 Art & Illustration AI Art Archives Data Cultural Diversity Ethics
  1. When creating images with AI, we are essentially building data visualizations based on training data, and this can lead to reproducing stereotypes found in the training data.
  2. Archives, like Wikimedia Commons, require curation and community engagement to ensure responsible and equitable representation in AI training datasets.
  3. There is a need to recognize the cultural and emotional value of images and data, and to approach AI training data as more than just facts, but as part of a larger social and cultural fabric.

The Unreasonable Ineffectiveness of Effective Altruism in thinking about AI

Ulysses • 179 implied HN points • 05 Feb 24
📖 Philosophy Ethics Logic Epistemology Ontology Psychology
  1. Knowledge systems using symbolic logic in natural language are heuristic and capture reality imperfectly.
  2. Validity of heuristics depends on the similarity between the original context and current application.
  3. Rigid deontological symbolic morality may fail in reasoning about new events like AI, leading to ineffective discussions and decision-making.

1.1 Calculation Versus Understanding: Why Care?

Fields & Energy • 319 implied HN points • 01 Nov 23
📖 Philosophy Political theory Epistemology Ethics Metaphysics Causality
  1. Understanding is important, not just getting the right answers. If we want to make sense of our world and society, we need deeper insights and not just calculations.
  2. Ideas about causality and certainty have changed over time. What was once thought to be clear cut, like Newton's laws, has become more complicated with concepts like quantum mechanics.
  3. Political philosophy can be impacted by scientific ideas. If we believe everything is contradictory, it may affect how we think about power and society, sometimes leading to a focus on who holds power rather than what is right or wrong.

Not For Sale

Bodies get in the way... • 353 implied HN points • 30 Jul 23
🏥 Health & Wellness Motherhood Surrogacy Breastfeeding Ethics
  1. Mothers for Mother advocates against surrogacy, highlighting that it can exploit vulnerable women and separate babies from their mothers.
  2. The bond between a mother and baby is crucial for a baby's emotional and cognitive development, with surrogacy potentially disrupting this connection.
  3. Surrogacy poses ethical and physiological risks, and laws regarding surrogacy vary widely across different countries.