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The post “Thou Art Godshatter” (2007-11-13) bears on Y05. Discussing human evolution, he observes that selection for reproductive fitness produced many separate desires rather than a desire for fitness itself; he later applies the analogy to AI training (AGI Ruin item 16). Copy claim link
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Supporting evidence: primary · 1 source
Date 2007-11-13 · publication Role Context Register (kind of text) Nonfiction Missing element About evolution and human desires, not about training AI on human feedback. Scope and limits Premise addressed: Optimising a system for human approval or reward produces internalised human values. Imported Overcoming Bias post (2007-11-13). About evolution, not AI; included as the earliest located statement of the outer/inner analogy he later applies to training. A 2007 passage about evolution and human values; reading it as a comment on training AI from human feedback projects a later analogy (AGI Ruin item 16) back onto it.
The evidence 01 primary source Supports the claim
Thou Art Godshatter ↗ Overcoming Bias · 2007-11-13
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Source excerpt “Yet when the blind idiot god created protein computers, its monomaniacal focus on inclusive genetic fitness was not faithfully transmitted. Its optimization criterion did not successfully quine.” Location in source Thou Art Godshatter, paragraph beginning 'Yet when the blind idiot god'
Machine-checked · 2026-10-06
Source details and check notes Authors Eliezer Yudkowsky Version Post body retrieved through the LessWrong GraphQL API on 2026-10-06 (SHA-256 b6abf133e881a827dca01e79a7c5493835c6d026c00fcdd6d46fd6b08086551d), content version 1.0.0. As imported to LessWrong. Canonical address Open the canonical source ↗ Accessed 2026-10-06 Language English (en) Attribution Eliezer Yudkowsky, “Thou Art Godshatter”, Overcoming Bias, as imported to LessWrong, 2007-11-13. Reuse No open redistribution licence asserted. Bibliographic metadata, editorial paraphrases and short attributed quotations (at most 50 words each). Recheck terms before wider redistribution. Check notes Candidate pack passage T05-c. The quotation (27 words) matched the retrieved expression (SHA-256 b6abf133e881a827dca01e79a7c5493835c6d026c00fcdd6d46fd6b08086551d) when checked on 2026-10-06. Status and meaning Editorial status. Not reviewed by an editor . An exploratory record that no editor has accepted. This status does not say whether a person has read any linked passage. Each evidence record above shows how it was checked.
Relation. A passage of the document bears on the proposition without meeting its criterion; the record names the missing element. It is not an articulation and implies no influence.
Date. LessWrong postedAt of an imported Overcoming Bias post (Overcoming Bias date).
Record ID yk-y05-lw-2007-thou-art-godshatter-b