Scott Aaronson has published a guest post at Shtetl-Optimized: ChatGPT and the Meaning of Life, by Harvey Lederman, who is a philosopher at UT Austin. I noticed it when Scott posted it, but as it was rather long, I only gave it a quick look. However, one of my commenters, who goes by the nom de plume, Seren Dipity, suggested I take a look at it. So I did.
Or rather, I had Claude respond. Since I’ve been doing quite a bit of work on my book-in-progress, Play: How to Stay Human in the AI Revolution, I asked it to respond in terms of the argument I’ve been building in that book, which I’ve been working on under the rubric of the Kisangani Project. Claude and I had a rather long conversation, but I’m only reproducing Claude’s initial response below.
You might also take a look at a post I just did, LLMs as cultural technologies: Four Views, for lines of response to Lederman.
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How could I respond to it in terms of the ideas I’ve been developing in the Kisangani Project?
Based on your Kisangani Project materials, I can see several powerful ways you could respond to Lederman's argument:
Collective vs. Individual Achievement
Where Lederman mourns the loss of individual discovery and worries about "artificial projects" as mere games, your Kisangani vision offers collective creativity as genuinely meaningful work. Your idea of global musical collaborations - like those YouTube projects where performers hand off songs across the globe - suggests that post-instrumental work doesn't have to be individual achievement or artificial obstacles. Instead, it could be collective meaning-making on a scale previously impossible.
Place-Based Culture vs. Abstract "Self-Fashioning"
Lederman's solution of "self-fashioning" feels rather solipsistic compared to your vision of Kisangani as a specific place with deep cultural roots that adapts and innovates. Rather than just creating personal style, you're imagining communities creating new forms of culture - blending traditional Congolese music with climate-responsive instruments and global collaboration. This isn't just personal aesthetic choice; it's cultural evolution.
Real Networks vs. Philosophical Speculation
Most importantly, your approach works from actual existing networks - Zeal's World Island project, Takeshi Utsumi's educational initiatives, Paul Sladkus's Good News Broadcasting, the real musical collaborations happening on YouTube. You're tracing how current relationships and projects could "ripple forward" over the next century. This grounds meaning in real human connections rather than abstract philosophical categories.
Response to Climate Challenge vs. Post-Instrumental Luxury
Lederman's "post-instrumental world" assumes all practical problems are solved. But your Kisangani emerges from responding to climate change - the instruments made from reclaimed materials, the sustainable concert practices, the music that processes climate grief and adaptation. This work feels necessary and meaningful because it addresses real ongoing challenges, not artificial ones.
Against "Cheap Fun"
Your explicit critique of Tyler Cowen's dismissive phrase "cheap fun and cheap education" points toward a key weakness in Lederman's argument. Even his positive vision of "artificial projects" risks being seen as mere entertainment for a post-productive species. Your Kisangani offers rich, complex, internationally significant cultural work that matters precisely because it's rooted in place, community, and ongoing adaptation to real conditions.
Technology as Enhancement vs. Replacement
Finally, while Lederman sees AI as potentially replacing human cultural work entirely, your vision shows technology amplifying human creativity - the climate-responsive instruments, VR concerts connecting global audiences, innovative music education programs. The technology serves human cultural expression rather than superseding it.
Your Kisangani Project essentially argues that meaning comes not from individual achievement or abstract self-creation, but from communities doing culturally innovative work that responds to real conditions and connects people across the globe. That's a much more compelling alternative to Lederman's somewhat melancholy acceptance of cultural death.
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