I imagine would could also point to “we are the smartest creatures” as another point that is undergoing a revolution, from calculator and computers, from checkers to chess and go, and whether anything happens with LLMs (whether your bar is Nth percentile human or Best human on AIME etc).
I mention because some people have accepted our intelligence is not privileged (regardless of whether you believe LLMs prove anything), others haven’t internalized it yet, or perhaps haven’t internalized the implications of it yet.
But I think it somewhat feeds into your point about human existence / non-extinction being a thing, whether due to events outside our own control (big meteors or solar death) to those that are (nuclear war, or perhaps an AI at some point).
But nonetheless appreciated your writing about the various revolutions on “we are special”, definitely food for thought!
I think this is a fascinating idea -- and I'd agree with you. Tbh, the thought I had for the academic paper that I haven't yet written is to make anthropocentrism the focus, and then discuss the various ways that new ideas have chipped away at it. Not only is your example great, but another "revolution" in our thinking -- albeit a very minor one, compared to the Copernican and Darwinian revolutions -- happened in the 1970s with the rise of biocentrism. My apologies if I'm explaining something you already know (!!): this claimed that human beings aren't the only things with intrinsic (or final) value -- other creatures have at least some intrinsic value, too. The original expression of this, from Arne Naess in 1973, took the form of "biospherical egalitarianism," which claimed that all creates have the *same* amount of intrinsic value that we have. In other words, it dethroned us from the center of the axiological universe, so to speak!!
Anyways, absolutely fascinating thought, once again. Thanks so much for sharing. If I do write the paper and discuss the idea you mention, I'll definitely cite you!! :-)
I imagine would could also point to “we are the smartest creatures” as another point that is undergoing a revolution, from calculator and computers, from checkers to chess and go, and whether anything happens with LLMs (whether your bar is Nth percentile human or Best human on AIME etc).
I mention because some people have accepted our intelligence is not privileged (regardless of whether you believe LLMs prove anything), others haven’t internalized it yet, or perhaps haven’t internalized the implications of it yet.
But I think it somewhat feeds into your point about human existence / non-extinction being a thing, whether due to events outside our own control (big meteors or solar death) to those that are (nuclear war, or perhaps an AI at some point).
But nonetheless appreciated your writing about the various revolutions on “we are special”, definitely food for thought!
I think this is a fascinating idea -- and I'd agree with you. Tbh, the thought I had for the academic paper that I haven't yet written is to make anthropocentrism the focus, and then discuss the various ways that new ideas have chipped away at it. Not only is your example great, but another "revolution" in our thinking -- albeit a very minor one, compared to the Copernican and Darwinian revolutions -- happened in the 1970s with the rise of biocentrism. My apologies if I'm explaining something you already know (!!): this claimed that human beings aren't the only things with intrinsic (or final) value -- other creatures have at least some intrinsic value, too. The original expression of this, from Arne Naess in 1973, took the form of "biospherical egalitarianism," which claimed that all creates have the *same* amount of intrinsic value that we have. In other words, it dethroned us from the center of the axiological universe, so to speak!!
Anyways, absolutely fascinating thought, once again. Thanks so much for sharing. If I do write the paper and discuss the idea you mention, I'll definitely cite you!! :-)