Dictators are good when they steal resources from the people and share them with us.

On hiking trails, I move rocks and branches, and fix drainage at water bars. Tiny improvements which make the trail easier for all who follow.

In my neighborhood, I pick up trash. Usually I go until I have filled a grocery bag, about 30 minutes. Though people do notice it so it’s only partly secret/anonymous.

My observation from hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, and also from babies, is that you can burn through your blood sugar in about 2 hours. It doesn’t matter what you eat but target 200-300 calories every 2 hours while working. In a 12-hour shift that might be 5 snack breaks in addition to breakfast and dinner.

I would bring everything you like eating, like a big snack bag, and just eat what looks good for 10 minutes. Potato chips, Cheetos, Nutter Butters (or other cookies), dinner leftovers, trail mix, candy bars, fruit snacks, cheez-its. I like Pro Bars for their caloric density. For breakfast whole milk Greek yogurt has a lot of protein. Smoothie or with granola & seeds/nuts.

As a former 8 year old Cub Scout, bows are incredibly hard to use. I was an excellent marksman with a rifle.

Free will comes from the “heart”, not the brain. It doesn’t fit in the materialistic view of science. Our bodies are quantum electric fields, and those fields interact. In my own experience I would say emotions or intentions don’t translate fully from video, but in person I can feel them.

Maybe if they add a quantum processor to the computer it can gain free will (disguised as random chance). But I think we have more to learn about the nature of consciousness before AGI is anywhere close to having free will.

And why is free will necessary for intelligence? New discoveries require curiosity. Scientific breakthroughs require new connections and discernment of truth. If the computer is doing research, it needs to decide when to stop looking, who to ask questions to, how far to dig, designing further experiments. Without free will you just have a big fancy encyclopedia.

The dangerous side of free will is manipulation, subversion, exploitation, deception, etc. So yeah I hope they don’t figure it out.

Free will is what sets us apart from most other animals. I would assert that many humans rarely exert their own free will. Having an interest and pursuing it is an exercise of free will. Some people are too busy surviving to do this. Curiosity and exploration are exercises of free will. Another would be helping strangers or animals - a choice bringing the individual no advantage.

You argue that wants, preferences, and beliefs are not chosen. Where do they come from? Why does one individual have those interests and not another? It doesn’t come from your parents or genes. It doesn’t come from your environment.

It’s entirely possible to choose your interests and beliefs. People change religions and careers. People abandon hobbies and find new ones. People give away their fortunes to charity.

AGI requires a few key components that no LLM is even close to.

First, it must be able to discern truth based on evidence, rather than guessing it. Can’t just throw more data at it, especially with the garbage being pumped out these days.

Second, it must ask questions in the pursuit of knowledge, especially when truth is ambiguous. Once that knowledge is found, it needs to improve itself, pruning outdated and erroneous information.

Third, it would need free will. And that’s the one it will never get, I hope. Free will is a necessary part of intelligent consciousness. I know there are some who argue it does not exist but they’re wrong.