Existential Hope Drop #20: Trent McConaghy, Ocean Protocol
"The farthest goal is Dyson spheres and reshaping the cosmos"
This month, join us as we discuss Trent's comprehensive vision of AI integration. We'll explore strategies for environmentalism via climate-focused DAOs, Nature 2.0, and jurisdictional arbitrage; and consider the role of BCIs and UBI in human self-actualization. We also discuss his most ambitious goal for the future of humanity, which includes Dyson spheres and reshaping the cosmos. Explore his vision of the future in this podcast episode and through an AI artwork inspired by his hopeful vision.
Trent's Recommended Resources
Starships and Tokens – Trent McConaghy. An exploration of how advanced technologies and novel strategies can shape our future in space and beyond.
The Sovereign Individual – James Dale Davidson and William Rees-Mogg. A thought-provoking analysis of how the rise of the internet and cyber-economy changes the nature of sovereignty and individual power.
Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order – Ray Dalio. Dalio's insights into the dynamic economic and political shifts shaping our global landscape.
Why Nations Fail – Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson. An examination of the political and economic factors that determine the success or failure of nations.
How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need – Bill Gates. Gates offers practical solutions and innovations to combat the global climate crisis.
From Starships to Tokens: Pioneering Futures
Join us as we explore Trent's vision of a world where AI and human ingenuity unite for societal good, environmental sustainability, and a journey towards transformative eucatastrophes. Trent's ideas challenge us to think beyond current limitations and imagine a future where technology and strategy lead to profound change.
Trent shares insights into genetic programming within AI, underlining its potential in diverse problem-solving domains. He envisions a future marked by final milestones of Dyson spheres, reshaping the cosmos, and exploring space; with a middle goal of achieving human superintelligence, and steps along the way including jurisdictional arbitrage for BCIs and establishing EFF-like organizations for climate action.
He also combines his AI expertise with environmental consciousness, discussing how advanced technology can be harnessed to not only respond to climate challenges but to proactively shape a thriving future. He introduces the concept of attack dog DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations) for environmental action and the market strategy of 'shorting Miami' in response to rising sea levels. His approach goes beyond mitigating risks, focusing on actionable strategies and embracing dynamic solutions for complex problems.
About the artist
Philipp Lenssen created this art piece with the help of generative AI. Philipp is from Germany and has been exploring technology and art for all his life. He developed sandbox universes Manyland and wrote a technology blog for 7 years. He's currently working on new daily pictures at Instagram.com/PhilippLenssen
Related Xhope Library Recommendations: Cyberspace
Bitcoin and the End of History - Reason. Documentary about a few cypherpunks and their contributions to building today’s cryptographic infrastructure.
DeSci - Vincent Weisser. Explainer on Decentralized Science with link list.
Crypto Tools for Paretotopia - Juan Benet. On how economic growth and cryptography-tools can help advance civilization toward pareto preferred worlds.
AI DAOs and Three Paths to get There - Trent McConaghy. Also: Nature 2.0. Combines and extends AI and blockchain into a symbiosis of biology and machine, for a future of abundance.
The Transparent Society - David Brin. On “reciprocal transparency” in the face of surveillance that seems unavoidable given the future costs of sensors and economic and political incentives.
NEWS FROM THE XHOPE ECOSYSTEM
An International Consortium for Evaluations of Societal-Scale Risks from Advanced AI – Ross Gruetzemacher et al.
A proposal has recently been published by Ross Gruetzemacher, and people working at CSER, for an International Consortium for Evaluations of Societal-Scale Risks from Advanced AI.
The paper identifies a variety of problems with the current risk evaluations ecosystem for advanced AI that are summarized as a coordination problem.
To address these issues, they propose an international consortium for advanced AI risk evaluations that could be established either through a regulatory market approach or as an intergovernmental organization.
The consortium would have three primary objectives: 1) to act as an intermediary between stakeholders (e.g., advanced AI labs, regulators, and evaluators), 2) to set standards efficiently, minimizing bureaucratic issues, and 3) as an accrediting body for evaluators.
They propose a new framework that builds on ARC Evals' Responsible Scaling Policies to optimize resource allocation for risk evaluations of advanced AI systems and to facilitate coordinated evaluations-based risk response (CERR; e.g., coordinated pausing, standards updating).
4.5 Billion Years in 1 Hour – Kurzgesagt
Earth is 4.5 billion years old – Kurzgesagt has scaled the complete timeline of our Earth’s life into a beautiful animated film! Every second shows about a million years of the planet’s evolution. Watch, share, and enjoy the ride of 4.5 billion years of history.
Existential Hope and Existential Risk: Exploring the value of optimistic approaches to shaping the long-termfuture – Beatrice Erkers and Vilhelm Skoglund
This article explores the value of focusing on "very positive futures" (VPF) alongside traditional approaches to mitigating existential risks. They delve into concepts like existential hope, utopia, and positive trajectory change, assessing their current roles in shaping long-term outcomes. The discussion balances arguments for and against emphasizing VPF, from attracting broader engagement to the potential pitfalls of utopian pursuits. This exploration aims to provide clarity on the proportion of work dedicated to VPF versus existential risk and to invite input on navigating the complexities of long-term strategic planning.
Major Updates at Metaculus – Metaculus
Our friends at Metaculus introduced new scoring, leaderboards, and medals to reward more ways the forecasting community can enhance human reasoning and coordination on globally important topics. Learn more about how they're evolving their platform!
Learn more about our work at existentialhope.com.