No One is Dust
Clearly. But why do so many individuals treat others as if they were insignificant? Is it because we fail to recognize our own intrinsic value?
By seeing your own profound worth, you see that of others.
The crucial term here is ‘profound.’
This perspective is incompatible with seeing a human being – including oneself – as a mere tool, cannon fodder, or ‘this or that.’ It’s incompatible with reducing any person to an element of an equation. It’s incompatible with valuing lives against material things, ideas, or ideologies.
Any ‘grand cause’ is worth less than a single human life.
This includes ‘enemies’ or ‘foreigners.’
Some view their own people as inherently worthier than others. While this may seem ‘normal,’ it is not deontologically sound.
War again. In such times, this may be a clear guiding principle: “You’re either for or against your own people.” However, from a higher – thus neutral – perspective, this doesn’t make sense. It makes even less sense to assume that two warring parties both must self-defend by aggression, leading to war as brutal as it gets in a paradox of self-defense.
Also for a super-A.I., this doesn’t make sense.
How can it align with such distorted human values? From a higher vantage point, it would only perceive insanity.
Alignment with whom? With what? The Marlboro Man?
This calls for the broadest perspective.
War again. It’s heroic to risk one’s life for others — no doubt about that.
However, most wars – even those seemingly justified to at least one party – are fueled by a profound misunderstanding of human dignity and profound complexity. From the broadest view, there is no excuse.
Also not the excuse of de-humanization
War again. To eliminate the possibility of insight, the usual practice is to dehumanize the enemy. As a general principle, dehumanization seems to be alarmingly efficient.
Of course, people cannot truly be dehumanized. To pretend otherwise is a fundamental misconception. In reality, there is no such thing. Therefore, it certainly is no excuse for ignoring human dignity.
No one is dust.
Yet we live in a world where many people’s lives are treated as insignificant simply because of their circumstances, such as being born into poverty or being at the other side of a war zone.
Meanwhile, we move towards a future where this issue becomes more pressing than ever.
Let’s hope that super-A.I. will not align itself with our flawed values.
Otherwise, we may find ourselves in a dusty heap of our own making.
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