THE BLOG

Animated hedgehog

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A whaling ship pursuing a whale THE DARK SIDE OF COOPERATION
dealing with the problems of cooperation first
Voltron—the combined robot, illustrating how cooperation makes us more than the sum of our parts HUMANS ARE ALIGNMENT GENERATORS
in the end it was all about the friends we made along the way
Emmett Shear with multiple hats APPENDIX A
a long and winding detour
A rabbit and a hedgehog recording the podcast VINCENT KNIGHT
our first podcast guest
A tsetse fly about to bite AN AMICABLE APE
revisiting alignment
A butterfly and flower collaborating — growing something greater together COLLABORATIVE CORNER
growing something greater
A rabbit searching through a warren VOTING THROUGH THE VEIL
John Rawls on selfish vs selfless voting
A rabbit looking at a phone under the whole of human knowledge WHAT ABOUT US?
polymaths 3/3
Descartes as a mouse discarding assumptions THE WHOLE KITTEN CAVOODLE
polymaths 2/3
Descartes as a mouse discarding assumptions AN ARGUMENT FOR ANALOGIES
polymaths 1/3
a 2D graph depicting the NPC->MC spectrum THE NPC å MC SPECTRUM
... or my leadership style as opposed to Stuart's
a rabbit with a rag NO MATTER WHERE YOU GET TO, THERE YOU ARE
a funny story that wasn't so funny at the time
a mouse as Dr Evil DR EVIL & REALPOLITIK
why can't we all just get along?
A rocket taking off leaving everyone in a cloud of smoke and dust WHY?
can we have both fairness and progress?
A line of cats each sculpting the next cat EFFORTOCRACY
I've had meritocracy all wrong
A jar of red and blue jellybeans, representing rights and liberties RIGHTS & LIBERTIES
are opposites
A hedgehog and rabbit sitting at a bar, talking SAIDI, MY FRIEND
what do we owe to each other
A puppy struggling to stay in the bath being poured out WIN-WIN-WIN ETHICS
reconciling consequentialism, virtue ethics and deontology
Spiraling branches of emergence EMERGENCE SPIRALS
what Yudkowsky gets wrong
A hedgehog winning a cosmica lottery THE COSMIC LOTTERY
the weak anthropic principle: a prelude to emergence
A family fighting over the remote MOVIE NIGHT
battle of the sexes
A group of moles around a fire PAINE ON ECONOMIC JUSTICE
the system didn't, and doesn't need to be this way
A rabbit disintegrating THE ERA OF THE DIVIDUAL
are we falling apart?
Chickens playing chicken ARUSHA PERPETUAL CHICKEN
an unlikely iterated game
A cat rejecting an offer THE ULTIMATUM GAME
take it or leave it
A rabbit riding a skateboard holding a bus SOCIAL DILEMMAS
public goods, free-riders, and exploitation
A stag THE STAG HUNT
cultivating cooperation to reap rewards
A prisoner at a podium THE DILEMMA'S DILEMMA
how we frame negotiations matters
Two prisoners facing a dilemma THE PRISONER'S DILEMMA
a problematic poster-child
A flowchart of a virtuous cycle NON-ZERO-SUM GAINS
a non-zero approach to getting in shape
A spider so full it can't eat another fly CAN ZERO-SUM GAMES NEGATE PRODUCTIVITY GAINS?
a two-part collaborative cross-post with ToSummarise
A peacock running from a predator COSTLY SIGNALLING
Jaiveer on buried mastery, Nash Equilibria and peacocks
A hedgehog trying to change their own preferences INESCAPABLY VALUE-LADEN EXPERIENCE
a term I made up to help understand rational morality
A shy interaction WHAT IS CONFIDENCE?
in game theory and real life
A flooded world DISCOUNT FACTOR
Jaiveer Singh on an important consideration in repeated games and real life
A determinism loop diagram CONSCIOUS SIGNIFICANCE
a new approach to free will & determinism
A prisoner facing a repeated dilemma BOTH-SIDESISM
when fair & balanced goes wrong
A prisoner facing a repeated dilemma REPEATED GAMES
guest writer Jaiveer Singh on finite vs infinite games
Ideas spreading CONTAGIOUS BELIEFS
simulating the spread of ideas
3 Cats SUBGAME PURRRFECTION
guest writer Jaiveer Singh explores subgame-perfect nash equilibrium
3 Cats SHAPLEY VALUE CALCULATOR
a tool for fair allocation
A semagram from Arrival COULD THINGS BE VERY DIFFERENT?
how historical inertia might blind us to optimal solutions
A snake chasing a newt WE DON'T JUST LET PEOPLE DIE
so, what next?
A moose holding a rugby ball COACH KROHN ON LEADERSHIP
lessons from a life lived leading and developing leaders
A hedgehog jumping up to catch raining money UNLOCKING SOLUTIONS
understanding coordination problems
A hedgehog jumping up to catch raining money WHY PEOPLE IN POVERTY MAKE POOR DECISIONS
a case for giving more money to people who are bad with money
A diagram with arrows between infant mortality, fertility and an unknown variable. SAVING LIVES REDUCES OVER-POPULATION
a counter-intuitive win-win
A birthday cake. CREATIVE PRINCIPLES
a behind-the-scenes look at nonzerosum.games
A dog mechanic. MASCULINITY
a case for courage
A hedgehog and a crab looking at each other. FURRY FRIENDS
the joy of interspecies camaraderie
A moth flying by moonlight. GOODHART'S LAW
the problem with singular goals
a self-help junkie. A POSITIVE DOUBLE STANDARD
self-help principles work for individuals not populations
Two hedgehogs discussing je ne sais quoi. EMERGENCE IS BEAUTIFUL
beauty and meaning in an entropic universe
A cartoon of self-replicating robots. REPLICATORS
pandora's dangerous children
A cartoon of Eukaryotic and Procariotic cells. ON THE SHOULDERS OF SUBSTRATES
how one phenomenon creates the foundation for the next
Particles forming order constellations. EMERGENT GRAVITY
create your own universe from chaos
Earth being hit by sun-rays and radiating heat. EMERGENCE VS ENTROPY
a universal paradox
Hedgehog pondering shapes CONWAY'S GAME
how complexity emerges from simple rules
2 dogs hugging WHAT CAN ONE PERSON DO?
Alexei Navalny
4 rabbits looking at paintings, each progressively less impressed WHY I'M KEEPING MY CRAPPY DRAWINGS
how ai art won't supplant... art
A dog maid serving soup A KINDNESS EQUATION
should you give to charity or volunteer?
A gecko saying 'Greed is good' CAPITALISM
a zero-sum game?
Diderot as a rich cat RELATIVE GAINS
how not to measure success
A protest with a sign with a crossed-out Nike swoosh, saying 'Just Don't Do It' EVIL GLOBALISATION
and how it is eliminating poverty
A blue hedgehog curled up, hiding IT'S SUBJECTIVE
the end of the conversation?
Cartoon of a cooperate and a defect button CAPITALISING ON TRUST
a karmic simulation
The cat landing on the scales and the thoughts flying everywhere WHY IS MORAL LICENSING NEGATIVE-SUM?
moral licensing - part 2
Illustration of the game of Risk—the rewards of strategic collaboration THE END OF MORALITY
Andrew Tane Glen's 'why cooperate?' part 3
A cat caressing a leg with its tail, with big eyes looking innocent MORAL LICENSING
the makings of a very negative-sum game
A Rhinoceros Beetle saying 'Life's a Game' NON-ZERO THINKING FOR KIDS
taking non-zero-sum thinking out into the world
Dog inheriting a medal IT'S EMOTIONAL
Andrew Tane Glen's 'why cooperate?' part 2
A stylized snake representing the super-defector scenario WHY COOPERATE?
guest writer Andrew Tane Glen introduces the super-defector
Pareto efficiency illustrated with two series of ticks—one with more ticks, but one cross COSTLESS KINDNESS
how pareto efficiency can make everyone better off (sometimes)
Angry calming kitten SHAPLEY VALUE IS RIDICULOUS
where game theory fails in real world applications
A pile of 21 chips on a table COMBINATORIAL GAMES
games with perfect information
Venn diagram with collective interests and individual interests, and the overlap being non-zero-sum games SOLUTIONS
the alignment problem no one is talking about: part 6
A robot coming out of the ground CAN AI HELP?
the alignment problem no one is talking about: part 5
A rabbit looking at a globe THE SCALE OF THE ISSUE
the alignment problem no one is talking about: part 4
A carrot GETTING ALIGNED THROUGH HISTORY
the alignment problem no one is talking about: part 3
A collective inside a Moloch character THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE COLLECTIVE
the alignment problem no one is talking about: part 2
A rabbit facing a scary robot THE ALIGNMENT PROBLEM NO ONE IS TALKING ABOUT
what is alignment?
Red traffic light looking disappointed NASH EQUILIBRIUM
the real reason you stop at a red
Octopus tentacle holding a crystal ball LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
a simple recycling idea: part III
Two characters sharing—the act of genuine listening TAKING CREDIT
the paradox of original ideas
A plastic bottle floating in front of a disillusioned fish PUTTING IT ON PLASTIC
a simple recycling idea: part II
An octopus in a jar—recycling concept A SIMPLE RECYCLING IDEA
8 bottles
A jumbled block structure obscuring a simple Tetris piece hidden within it THE TETRIS EFFECT
3d minimalist tetris and the obscuring problem
Diagram of different levels of bad situations MOLOCH'S DEMISE
solving the original problem
Liv Boeree with birds on shoulders saying 'Win-Win' LIV BOEREE
a non-zero hero
A cute snail 4 WAYS MOLOCH IS RUINING YOUR LIFE!
the god of negative-sum games: part II
Paper, scissors, rock LOCKWISE
a meta-game
Cars diminishing in size DIMINISHING RETURNS
a path to shared joy?
A design by Moloch WHO IS MOLOCH?
the god of negative-sum games
An upside-down polyp asking 'Why am I upside down?' PARABLE OF A POLYP
from zero-sum to non-zero-sum
Hercules beetles facing off WHAT ARE NON-ZERO-SUM GAMES?
an introduction
Crabs pulling each other out of a bucket ARE YOU IN A CRAB BUCKET?
how to escape negative-sum games