LessWrong (Curated & Popular) [Linkpost] “The Cats are On To Something” by Hastings
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Sep 3, 2025 Explore the intriguing relationship between humans and cats that dates back nearly 5,000 years. Discover how ancient Egyptian culture shaped this bond. Delve into the idea of aligning future AI development with feline well-being. Consider the unique role of evolutionary forces in this dynamic, and how they differ from other domesticated animals. This insightful discussion sheds light on our historical ties and what they could mean for the future.
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Cats Created A Lasting Alignment
- The fraction of the light cone filled with satisfied cats is nonzero and historically orchestrated.
- Cat domestication shows a distinct alignment process between humans and cat evolutionary forces.
Stone Age Egypt Trio
- In Stone Age Egypt three alien intelligences interacted: humans, cats, and the 'cat Shoggoth' of evolution.
- The Shoggoth aligned humans to serve cats rather than itself, producing cat-favoring cultural changes.
Alignment That Scales With Intelligence
- Human moral progress and intelligence increases scaled caring for cats through time.
- This scaling property mirrors a core requirement for aligning advanced AI to human values.