As an atheist, I'm not saying that religious values are somehow the ideal. Also, I'm not saying that religious values come from God or are somehow immutable.
However, if we look at different societies, some work better than others. I think most people on HN live in societies that actually work quite well.
To think that you can somehow reason your way to anything better, from first principles (which have to be values, not rules), is very optimistic, in my opinion. First of all, you have to be very certain that you have the correct first principles. (I think this is a much harder problem in itself than most people realize), but even if you do, creating a full ethical system that maximizes those values, is computationally impossible.
To my knowledge, most attempts to introduce radical changes in this manner, has lead to societies that function worse, not better.
I think this problem is very closely related to defining a utility function to a superhuman AI, that you can trust to lead to good outcomes.
However, if we look at different societies, some work better than others. I think most people on HN live in societies that actually work quite well.
To think that you can somehow reason your way to anything better, from first principles (which have to be values, not rules), is very optimistic, in my opinion. First of all, you have to be very certain that you have the correct first principles. (I think this is a much harder problem in itself than most people realize), but even if you do, creating a full ethical system that maximizes those values, is computationally impossible.
To my knowledge, most attempts to introduce radical changes in this manner, has lead to societies that function worse, not better.
I think this problem is very closely related to defining a utility function to a superhuman AI, that you can trust to lead to good outcomes.