"U should get up in the morning because u will make the Universe a better place"

[Darren Dirt]

In answer to "What is the meaning of life -- WHY should I get up in the morning?"

Agreed? Or at least is Altruism the better choice amongst the other 2 options (Happiness, Knowledge)?



Found via http://www.c2.com/cgi/wiki?TheSingularity (which, it should be noted, also says "was later called by Yudkowsky 'The greatest mistake he ever made'...")

[Mr. Analog]

NO!

BED FOREVER!!

I caught up on a weeks worth of sleep on Sunday, it was amazing

[Darren Dirt]

NO!

BED FOREVER!!

I caught up on a weeks worth of sleep on Sunday, it was amazing

#PointMissed

To clarify:

In answer to "What is the meaning of life -- WHY should I get up in the morning?"

Agreed? Or at least is Altruism the better choice amongst the other 2 options (Happiness, Knowledge)?

[Mr. Analog]

Happiness is a state of mind

If you think waking up early will make you happy and it does then it will

Conversely if you think waking up early will make you happy and you don't get up early will you punish yourself with unhappy thoughts and self recrimination?

[Darren Dirt]

If you think waking up early will make you happy and it does then it will

Conversely if you think waking up early will make you happy and you don't get up early will you punish yourself with unhappy thoughts and self recrimination?

DEEP THOUGHTS bro!

But ... #tangent -- to clarify, my OP was all about the "purpose" of living life*, not what time to wake up obviously if reduced energy levels require extra sleep then by all means get rested up! (before doing whatever you are driven to do ... aka the WHY in the OP)



*within the context of realizing that The Singularity is a virtual certainty, eventually.

[Mr. Analog]

Perhaps a summary would help because obviously TL,DR

[Tom]

I agree, it is a state of mind, but I've learned over the years that "catching up" on sleep tends to actually make my mood worse most of the day. So while I usually wake up feeling great, i get super irritable, and if I keep doing it, I get depressed (which may stem from the dreams I end up remembering all being weird and will develop into nightmares).

[Darren Dirt]

Perhaps a summary would help because obviously TL,DR

Okay, I will try to paste in the key points from the linked "meaning of life (within the context of a coming Singularity)" page...

=====================

1. ...something smarter (or otherwise higher) than human might evolve, or be created, in a few million years.  So, once you've accepted that possibility, you may as well accept that neurohacking, BCI (Brain-Computer Interfaces), Artificial Intelligence, or some other intelligence-enhancement technology will transcend the human condition, almost certainly within your lifetime (unless we blow ourselves to dust first).

2. The really interesting part about the creation of smarter-than-human intelligence is the positive-feedback effect.  Technology is the product of intelligence, so when intelligence is enhanced by technology, you've got transhumans who are more effective at creating better transhumans, who are more effective at creating even better transhumans.

3. Our "hardware", our minds, emotions, our fundamental level of intelligence, are unchanged from fifty thousand years ago.  Within a couple of decades, for the first time in human history, we will have the ability to modify the hardware.

4. From enhanced humans to artificial Minds, the creation of greater-than-human intelligence has a name:  Singularity. Once any race gains the ability to technologically increase the level of intelligence - either by enhancing existing intelligence, or by constructing entirely new minds - a fundamental change in the rules occurs, as basic as the rise to sentience.

5. One eventual possible future = We could become everything we've ever dreamed of becoming.  That dream - life without bound, without end - is called Apotheosis.

6. Therefore, NOW, in this well-before-Singularity time in which we live ... what might we do with this gift of life? and WHY? (Hence the OP)



[WHY -- 3 possible reasons]

A) Happiness.  Even if your life is unhappy now, stick around for a few years.  Nobody really knows what's on the other side of the Singularity, but it'll probably be a lot of fun.  I'm not suggesting that Apotheosis is the only way to be happy - you can be happy in the here-and-now as well.  But the Singularity does seem like one heck of a way to be happy.

B) Knowledge.  If you've arrived at this page, you've probably achieved the self-awareness necessary to realize that you don't have the vaguest idea of what's going on, or what it's all for.  But don't worry:  No matter how confused you are now, things should all be straightened out in a couple of decades.  It may be fashionable to insist that intelligence does not equal wisdom, and maybe, if you look at the differences between humans, that's arguable - but you don't see Neanderthals discussing existentialism, do you?  A superintelligence would have a better chance of figuring things out and explaining them to you.  If it's not something that can be explained to humans at all, you might be able to become a superintelligence yourself.

C) Altruism.  We, ourselves, don't know what's right.  Or, even if you do, you can't achieve it - at all, or as completely as you'd like.  An enhanced intelligence, however, has a better chance of figuring out what's right, and a better chance of achieving it.  By getting up in the morning, and either supporting general civilization, or working directly towards technological intelligence enhancement, you are indirectly doing what's right, acting in a supporting role.  You're making the choices that lead to a better Universe, and that's all that can ever be asked of anyone.  If you don't get up in the morning, the Universe will be the worse for it.


=====================

And so here we are in the discussion, hopefully with more clarity at the foundation.

[Mr. Analog]

...or the most obvious and missing impetus for enhancing yourself: advantage

Do most people go to university for the sheer joy of broadening their minds and the challenge of learning more about the world around them? Not likely! It's supposedly a rubber stamp to a professional career

The day one person can spend cash to "elevate" themselves over another is the day a new class system evolves and the cycle of misery continues for everybody.

[Tom]

...or the most obvious and missing impetus for enhancing yourself: advantage

Do most people go to university for the sheer joy of broadening their minds and the challenge of learning more about the world around them? Not likely! It's supposedly a rubber stamp to a professional career

The day one person can spend cash to "elevate" themselves over another is the day a new class system evolves and the cycle of misery continues for everybody.

Hasn't it worked that way for the last 100 years or so?

[Mr. Analog]

...or the most obvious and missing impetus for enhancing yourself: advantage

Do most people go to university for the sheer joy of broadening their minds and the challenge of learning more about the world around them? Not likely! It's supposedly a rubber stamp to a professional career

The day one person can spend cash to "elevate" themselves over another is the day a new class system evolves and the cycle of misery continues for everybody.

Hasn't it worked that way for the last 100 years or so?

Since the dawn of time, competitive advantage turns out to be advantageous

[Tom]

...or the most obvious and missing impetus for enhancing yourself: advantage

Do most people go to university for the sheer joy of broadening their minds and the challenge of learning more about the world around them? Not likely! It's supposedly a rubber stamp to a professional career

The day one person can spend cash to "elevate" themselves over another is the day a new class system evolves and the cycle of misery continues for everybody.

Hasn't it worked that way for the last 100 years or so?

Since the dawn of time, competitive advantage turns out to be advantageous

Having money doesn't actually mean you're competitive, often it's the exact opposite. you get complacent.

[Mr. Analog]

...or the most obvious and missing impetus for enhancing yourself: advantage

Do most people go to university for the sheer joy of broadening their minds and the challenge of learning more about the world around them? Not likely! It's supposedly a rubber stamp to a professional career

The day one person can spend cash to "elevate" themselves over another is the day a new class system evolves and the cycle of misery continues for everybody.

Hasn't it worked that way for the last 100 years or so?

Since the dawn of time, competitive advantage turns out to be advantageous

Having money doesn't actually mean you're competitive, often it's the exact opposite. you get complacent.

Anyone can be complacent, the difference with money or power is it grants advantages, which means even though you aren't actively competing you still have an edge

For example, you can walk a few feet and get access to clean, drinkable water. This is something a lot of people around the world have to put real effort into, effort you can divert into other areas like learning how to debug internet routing problems or pursue other needs. That person who has to lug a water container to where they live is always going to be several steps behind you and may never catch up.

So now imagine someone who can just "imagine software" and it gets written by some add-on in their brain, they could go from concept to running software just by thinking about it. You and I can still write software, but it takes time and effort to plan things and get them working, that other person has moved on and on and likely can make more money and buy more crazy brain implants. This would create a schism where individual effort is trumped by artificial means.

For people with implants there would be just as much competition, trying to keep up, gain the upper hand. It would be a near constant race to the top that would make today's rat race seem quaint and slow paced.

Anyway, that's my nightmare scenario SCI-FI theory

Just call me Johnny Mnemonic

[Darren Dirt]

...or the most obvious and missing impetus for enhancing yourself: advantage

Okay, so let me dig deeper...

I do action X in order to gain advantage [in some context]... WHY?

I gain material advantage X, or material possession X, or emotional experience X ... WHY? Now that I have gained X when previously I did not have X under my belt... what now? what next?

[Mr. Analog]

...or the most obvious and missing impetus for enhancing yourself: advantage

Okay, so let me dig deeper... I do action X in order to gain advantage [in some context]... WHY?

Why is anyone driven to do anything is what you're asking and there's no answer for that