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JohnMakin11/04/20250 repliesview on HN

I largely agree with much of this, but would like to pose the following hypothetical:

Let's say the AGI true believers, the really big players out there believe 2 things simultaneously that seem impossible together:

1) AGI will revolutionize humanity and propel us to unimaginable progress

2) AGI will destroy humanity

What if they actually believe 2) is a precursor to 1)? A lot of them seem to be building bunker fortresses on private islands right now. It seems like there is a certain class of very rich person that thinks yes, this current iteration of civilization is doomed (whether you believe it to be nuclear war, climate change, AGI, whatever), but, by virtue of them being Very Smart and Wealthy Human Beings, they can ride that out, and create a new civilization built on what was left behind.

I've not deep dove into a lot of writings by these guys but this kind of attitude seems to ooze from it. They're not concerned, because they think they're the ones that won't be affected. I think history says otherwise - when civilizations undergo catastrophic events, it tends to be the minority ruling classes that get eaten alive, not the other way around. I guess we'll see either way, right or wrong.