# A single principle related to many Alignment subproblems?

I want to show a philosophical principle which, I believe, has implications for many alignment subproblems. If the principle is valid, it might allow to

*   connect the study of abstractions, [Shard Theory](https://www.lesswrong.com/w/shard-theory) and [Mechanistic Anomaly Detection](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/vwt3wKXWaCvqZyF74/mechanistic-anomaly-detection-and-elk);
*   obtain multiple potential solutions to the [Eliciting Latent Knowledge](https://www.lesswrong.com/w/eliciting-latent-knowledge) problem;
*   obtain a [bounded solution](https://arbital.greaterwrong.com/p/unbounded_analysis?l=107) to outer and inner alignment. (I mean [Task-directed AGI](https://arbital.greaterwrong.com/p/task_agi/) level of outer alignment.)

*This post clarifies and expands on ideas from* [*here*](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/hzXFthtujYhDXMgFd/tbd-3) *and* [*here*](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/DKdWdaqGwzFZJgmmd/q-home-s-shortform?commentId=yLfvdmSaG42TchDB3)*. Reading the previous posts is not required.*

The Principle
=============

The principle and its most important consequences:

1.  By default, humans only care about variables they could (in principle) easily optimize or comprehend.[^igvkxsapoc] While the true laws of physics can be arbitrarily complicated, the behavior of variables humans care about **can't** be arbitrarily complicated.
2.  Easiness of optimization/comprehension can be captured by a few relatively simple mathematical properties ($X$).[^frlkvqfj5ug] Those properties can describe explicit and implicit predictions about the world.
3.  We can split all variables (potentially relevant to human values) into partially arbitrary classes, based on how many $X$ properties they have. The most optimizable/comprehensible variables ($V_1$), less optimizable/comprehensible variables ($V_2$), even less optimizable/comprehensible variables ($V_3$), etc. We can do this without abrupt jumps in complexity or empty classes. The less optimizable/comprehensible the variables are, the more predictive power they might have (since they're less constrained).

Justification:

*   If something is too hard to optimize/comprehend, people couldn't possibly optimize/comprehend it in the past, so it couldn't be a part of human values.
*   New human values are always based on old human values. If people start caring about something which is hard to optimize/comprehend, it's because that "something" is similar to things which are easier to optimize/comprehend.[^0y0u5mviajqh] Human values are recursive, in some sense, flowing from simpler (versions of) values to more complicated (versions of) values. This can be seen from pure introspection, without reference to human history.
*   Therefore, if something is hard to optimize/comprehend, it's unlikely to be a part of the current human values (unless it's connected to something simpler). Even if currently humans have the means to optimize/comprehend it.

There are value systems for which the principle is false. In that sense, it's empirical. However, I argue that it's a priori true for humans, no matter how wrong our beliefs about the world are. So the principle is not supposed to be an "assumption" or "hypothesis", like e.g. the [Natural Abstraction hypothesis](https://www.lesswrong.com/w/natural-abstraction).

You can find a more detailed [explanation](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/h89L5FMAkEBNsZ3xM/a-single-principle-related-to-many-alignment-subproblems-2#A_more_detailed_explanation_of_the_claims_behind_the_principle) of the principle in the appendix.

Formalization
-------------

**How do we define easiness of comprehension?** We choose variables describing our sensory data. We choose what properties ($X$) of those variables count as "easily comprehensible". Now when we consider any variable (observable or latent), we check how much its behavior fits the properties. We can order all variables from the most comprehensible to the least comprehensible ($V_1, V_2, V_3... V_n$).

Let's give a specific example of $X$ properties. Imagine a green ball in your visual field. What properties would make this stimulus easier to comprehend? Continuous movement (the ball doesn't teleport from place to place), smooth movement (the ball doesn't abruptly change direction), low speed (the ball doesn't change too fast compared to other stimuli), low numerosity (the ball doesn't have countless distinct parts). That's the kind of properties we need to abstract and capture when defining $X$.

**How do we define easiness of optimization?** Some $V$ variables are variables describing actions ($A$), ordered from the most comprehensible to the least comprehensible actions ($A_1, A_2, A_3... A_n$). We can check if changes in an $A_j$ variable are correlated with changes in a $X_i$ variable. If yes, $A_j$ can optimize $X_i$. Easiness of optimization is given by the index of $A_j$. This is an incomplete definition, but it conveys the main idea.

Formalizing all of this precisely won't be trivial. But I'll give intuition pumps for why it's a very general idea which doesn't require getting anything exactly right on the first try.

Example: our universe
---------------------

Consider these things:

1.  Quantum entanglements between atoms of diamonds and atoms of other objects.
2.  Individual atoms inside of diamonds.
3.  Clouds of atoms which we call "diamonds".
4.  Individual photons bouncing off of diamonds.
5.  Images of diamonds.

According to the principle:

*   People are most likely to care about 5 or 3. Because those things are the easiest to optimize/comprehend.
*   People are less likely to care about 2. Individual atoms are very small, so they're harder to interact with.
*   People are even less likely to care about 4. Those things are very fast (relative to the speed at which humans do things), so they're harder to interact with and comprehend. However, ignoring speed, photons are pretty comprehensible (unless we're venturing into quantum mechanics).
*   People are the least likely to care about 1. Quantum entanglements are the hardest to optimize/comprehend. The logic of the quantum world is too different from the logic of the macro world.

This makes sense. Why would we [rebind our utility](https://arbital.greaterwrong.com/p/rescue_utility?l=3y6) to something which we couldn't meaningfully interact with, perceive or understand previously?

Example: Super Mario Bros.
--------------------------

Let's see how the principle applies to a universe very different from our own. A universe called [Super Mario Bros.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLl9XBg7wSs)

When playing the game, it's natural to ask: what variables (observable or latent) change in ways which are the easiest to comprehend? Which of those changes are correlated with simple actions of the playable character or with simple inputs?

Let's compare a couple of things from the game:

1.  The variable corresponding to Mario's position (physical or visual).
2.  The variable which connects a pixel-precise event in one place to the subpixel position of an object in a completely different place. See [this video explanation](https://youtu.be/_FQJEzJ_cQw?si=0bJ8Z311uOKW2X80&t=725), from 12:05.
3.  The current value of the game's [pseudorandom number generator](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pseudorandom_number_generator).

According to the principle:

*   We're most likely to care about 1. It changes continuously, smoothly and slowly, which makes it very easy to comprehend. It's also correlated with simple inputs in a simple way, which makes it easy to optimize.
*   We're less likely to care about 2. It involves "spooky action at distance" and deals with unusually precise measurements, so it's harder to comprehend. It's also harder to optimize, since it requires a pixel-precise action.
*   We're the least likely to care about 3. It changes discontinuously and very fast, so it's hard to comprehend. Also, it's not correlated with most of the player's input.[^z4pd2ro0owj]

This makes sense. If you care about playing the game, it's hard to care about things which are tangential or detrimental to the main gameplay.

Example: reverse-engineering programs with a memory scanner
-----------------------------------------------------------

There's a fun and simple way to hack computer programs, based on searching and filtering variables stored in a program's memory.

For example, do you want to get infinite lives in a video game? Then do this:

*   Take all variables which the game stored in the memory.
*   Lose a life. Filter out all variables which haven't decreased.
*   Lose another life. Filter out all variables which haven't decreased.
*   Gain a life. Filter out all variables which haven't increased.
*   Don't lose or gain a life. Filter out all variables which changed.
*   And so on, until you're left with a small amount of variables.

Oftentimes you'll end up with at least two variables: one controlling the *actual* number of lives and the other controlling the number of lives *displayed on the screen*. Here's a couple of tutorial videos about this type of hacking: [Cheat Engine for Idiots](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KJNM0FiE14), [Unlocking the Secrets of my Favorite Childhood Game](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZnAS5_0Z3I).

It's a very general approach to reverse engineering a program. And the idea behind my principle is that the variables humans care about can be discovered in a similar way, by filtering out all variables which don't change according to certain simple rules.

If you still struggle to understand what "easiness of optimization/comprehension" means, check out additional examples [in the appendix]( https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/h89L5FMAkEBNsZ3xM/untitled-draft-bhvk#Comparing_variables). 

Philosophy: Anti-Copernican revolutions
---------------------------------------

*(This is a vague philosophical point intended to explain what kind of "move" I'm trying to make by introducing my principle.)*

There are Copernican revolutions and Anti-Copernican revolutions.

Copernican revolutions say "external things matter more than our perspective". The actual [Copernican revolution](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copernican_Revolution) is an example.

Anti-Copernican revolutions say "our perspective matters more than external things". The [anthropic principle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropic_principle) is an example: instead of asking *"why are we lucky to have this universe?"* we ask *"why is this universe lucky to have us?"*. What Immanuel Kant called his ["Copernican revolution"](https://www.quora.com/What-is-Kants-Copernican-Revolution) is another example: instead of saying *"mental representations should conform to external objects"* he said *"external objects should conform to mental representations"*.[^tqgpvudt6n] Arguably, [Policy Alignment](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/TeYro2ntqHNyQFx8r/policy-alignment) is also an example (*"human beliefs, even if flawed, are more important than AI's galaxy-brained beliefs"*).

With my principle, I'm trying to make an Anti-Copernican revolution too. My observation is the following: for our abstractions to be grounded in anything at all, reality has to have certain properties — therefore, we can deduce properties of reality from introspective information about our abstractions.

Visual illustration
-------------------

![](https://39669.cdn.cke-cs.com/rQvD3VnunXZu34m86e5f/images/d4d6b5866c360bf98defc6b0ae309fdf044ebd88e62c29e2.png)

The green bubble is all aspects of reality humans can optimize or comprehend. It's a cradle of simplicity in a potentially infinite sea of complexity. The core of the bubble is $V_1$, the outer layer is $V_n$.

The outer layer contains, among other things, the last theory of physics which has *some* intuitive sense. The rest of the universe, not captured by the theory, is basically just "noise".

We care about the internal structure of the bubble (its internals are humanly comprehensible concepts). We **don't** care about the internal structure of the "noise". Though we do care about predicting the noise, since the noise might [accidentally accumulate into a catastrophic event](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_vacuum).

The bubble has a couple of nice properties. It's humanly comprehensible and it has a gradual progression from easier concepts to harder concepts (just like in school). We know that the bubble exists, no matter how wrong our beliefs are. Because if it doesn't exist, then all our values are incoherent and the world is incomprehensible or uncontrollable.

Note that the bubble model applies to **5** somewhat independent things: the laws of physics, ethics, cognition & natural language, [conscious experience](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qualia), and mathematics.

Philosophy: a new simplicity measure
------------------------------------

**Idea 1.** Is "objects that are easy to manipulate with the hand" a natural abstraction? I don't know. But imagine I build an AI with a mechanical hand. Now it *should* be a natural abstraction for the AI, because "manipulating objects with the hand" is one of the simplest actions the AI can perform. This suggests that it would be nice to have an AI which interprets reality in terms of the simplest actions it can take. Because it would allow us to build a common ontology between humans and the AI.

**Idea 2.** The simplest explanation of the reward is often unsafe because it's "too smart". If you teach a dumber AI to recognize dogs, it might learn the shape and texture of a dog; meanwhile a superintelligent AI will learn a [detailed model of the training process](https://www.lesswrong.com/w/look-where-i-m-pointing-not-at-my-finger#Abstract_problem) and [Goodhart](https://www.lesswrong.com/w/goodhart-s-law) it. This suggests that it would be nice to have an AI which doesn't just search for the simplest explanation *with all of its intelligence*, but looks for the simplest explanations *at different levels of intelligence* — and is biased towards "simpler *and dumber*" explanations.

The principle combines both of those ideas and gives them additional justification. It's a new measure of simplicity.

* * *

Human Abstractions
==================

Here I explain how the principle relates to the following problems: [the pointers problem](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/vMM6HmSQaKmKadvBi/the-core-of-the-alignment-problem-is-1#The_Pointers_Problem_); [the diamond maximizer problem](https://arbital.greaterwrong.com/p/diamond_maximizer/); [environmental goals](https://arbital.greaterwrong.com/p/environmental_goals?l=7w5); [identifying causal goal concepts from sensory data](https://arbital.greaterwrong.com/p/identify_causal_goals?l=36w); [ontology identification problem](https://arbital.greaterwrong.com/p/ontology_identification); [eliciting latent knowledge](https://www.lesswrong.com/w/eliciting-latent-knowledge).

According to the principle, we can order all variables by how easy they are to optimize/comprehend ($V_1, V_2, V_3... V_n$). We can do this without abrupt jumps in complexity or empty classes. $V_{j+1}$ can have greater predictive power than $V_j$, because it has less constraints.

That implies the following:

1.  We can search for a world-model consisting of $V_1$ variables. Then search for a world-model consisting of $V_2$ variables and having greater predictive power. Then search for a world-model consisting of $V_3$ variables and having even greater predictive power. Etc.
2.  As a result, we get a sequence of easily interpretable models which model the world on multiple levels. We can use it to make AI care about specific physical objects humans care about (e.g. diamonds). We can even automate this process, to an extent.
3.  There might be aspects of our universe not described by $V_n$. Those aspects aren't really relevant to defining what we care about. Those aspects are basically just pseudorandom "noise" which feeds into $V_n$. We need a good model of that noise, **but we don't care about its internals anymore**.[^46cac3jes25]

Related: Natural Abstraction Hypothesis
---------------------------------------

> The natural abstraction hypothesis says that (...) a wide variety of cognitive architectures will learn to use approximately the same high-level abstract objects/concepts to reason about the world. *(from* [*Testing The Natural Abstraction Hypothesis: Project Intro*](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/cy3BhHrGinZCp3LXE/testing-the-natural-abstraction-hypothesis-project-intro)*)*

> This claim says that this ability to learn natural abstractions applies more broadly: general-purpose cognitive systems (like humans or AGI) can in principle learn all natural abstractions. (...) This claim says that humans and ML models are part of the large class of cognitive systems that learn to use natural abstractions. Note that there is no claim to the converse: not all natural abstractions are used by humans. But given claim 1c, once we do encounter the thing described by some natural abstraction we currently don't use, we will pick up that natural abstraction too, unless it is too complex for our brain. *(from* [*Natural Abstractions: Key claims, Theorems, and Critiques*](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/gvzW46Z3BsaZsLc25/natural-abstractions-key-claims-theorems-and-critiques)*)*

If NAH is true, referents of human concepts have relatively simple definitions.

However, my principle implies that referents of human concepts have a relatively simple definition *even if human concepts are not universal* (i.e. it's not true that "a wide variety of cognitive architectures will learn to use approximately the same high-level abstract objects/concepts to reason about the world").

Related: compositional language
-------------------------------

One article by Eliezer Yudkowsky kinda implies that there could be a language for describing any possible universe on multiple levels, a language in which defining basic human goals would be pretty easy (no matter what kind of universe humans live in):

> Given some transparent prior, there would exist a further problem of how to actually bind a preference framework to that prior. One possible contributing method for pinpointing an environmental property could be if we understand the prior well enough to understand what the described object ought to look like — the equivalent of being able to search for **‘things W made of six smaller things X near six smaller things Y and six smaller things Z, that are bound by shared Xs to four similar things W in a tetrahedral structure’** in order to identify carbon atoms and diamond. *(from* [*Ontology identification problem: Matching environmental categories to descriptive constraints*](https://arbital.greaterwrong.com/p/ontology_identification?l=5c#Matching_environmental_categories_to_descriptive_constraints)*)*

But why would such a language be feasible to figure out? It seems like creating it could require considering countless possible universes.

My principle explains "why" and proposes a relatively feasible method of creating it.

Related: ELK and continuity (Sam Marks)
---------------------------------------

> The predictor might internally represent the world in such a way that the underlying state of the world is not a continuous function of its activations. For example, the predictor might describe the world by a set of sentences, for which syntactically small changes (like inserting the word “not”) could correspond to big changes in the underlying state of the world. When the predictor has this structure, the direct translator is highly discontinuous and it is easy for human simulators to be closer to continuous.

> We might try to fix this by asking the predictor to learn a “more continuous” representation, e.g. a representation such that observations are a continuous function or such that time evolution is continuous. One problem is that it’s unclear whether such a continuous parametrization even exists in general. But a more straightforward problem is that when evaluated quantitatively these approaches don’t seem to address the problem, because **the properties we might try to use to enforce continuity can themselves be discontinuous functions of the underlying latent state.** *(from* [*ELK prize results, Counterexample: the predictor’s latent space may not be continuous*](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/zjMKpSB2Xccn9qi5t/elk-prize-results#Counterexample__the_predictor_s_latent_space_may_not_be_continuous)*)*

The principle could be used to prove that the properties for enforcing continuity **can't** themselves be discontinuous functions of the underlying latent state (unless something really weird is going on, in which case humans should be alerted). If we use $X$ properties to define "continuity".

Related: ELK and modes of prediction
------------------------------------

A proposal by Derek Shiller, Beth Barnes and Nate Thomas, Oam Patel:

> Rather than trying to learn a reporter for a complex and alien predictor, we could learn a sequence of gradually more complex predictors $M_1, M_2, … M_N$ with corresponding reporters $R_1, R_2 … R_N$. Then instead of encouraging $R_N$ to be simple, we can encourage the difference between $R_k$ and $R_{k+1}$ to be simple.

> (...) Intuitively, the main problem with this proposal is that there might be multiple fundamentally different ways to predict the world, and that we can’t force the reporter to change continuously across those boundaries. *(from* [*ELK prize results, Strategy: train a sequence of reporters for successively more powerful predictors*](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/zjMKpSB2Xccn9qi5t/elk-prize-results#Strategy__train_a_sequence_of_reporters_for_successively_more_powerful_predictors)*)*

The principle could be used to prove that we can force predictors to not be "fundamentally different" from each other, so we **can** force the reporter to change continuously.

* * *

Low Impact
==========

Here I explain how the principle relates to [Impact Regularization](https://www.lesswrong.com/w/impact-regularization).

Allowed consequences
--------------------

> When we say “paint all cars pink” or “cure cancer” there’s some implicit set of consequences that we think are allowable and should definitely not be prevented, such as people noticing that their cars are pink, or planetary death rates dropping. We don’t want the AI trying to obscure people’s vision so they can’t notice the car is pink, and we don’t want the AI killing a corresponding number of people to level the planetary death rate. We don’t want these bad *offsetting* actions which would avert the consequences that were the point of the plan in the first place. *(from* [*Low impact: Allowed consequences vs. offset actions*](https://arbital.greaterwrong.com/p/low_impact?l=2pf#Allowed_consequences_vs__offset_actions)*)*

We can order all variables by how easy they are to optimize/comprehend ($V_1, V_2, V_3... V_n$). We could use it to differentiate between "impacts explainable by more coarse-grained variables ($V_j$)" and "impacts explainable by more fine-grained variables ($V_k$)". According to the principle, the latter impacts are undesirable by default. For example:

*   It's OK to make cars pink by using paint ("spots of paint" is an easier to optimize/comprehend variable). It's not OK to make cars pink by manipulating individual water droplets in the air to create an elaborate [rainbow-like](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow) illusion ("individual water droplets" is a harder to optimize/comprehend variable).
*   It's OK if a person's mental state changes because they notice a pink car ("human object recognition" is an easier to optimize/comprehend process). It's not OK if a person's mental state changes because the pink car has weird subliminal effects on the human psyche ("weird subliminal effects on the human psyche" is a harder to optimize/comprehend process).
*   It's OK to minimize the amount of paint drops while executing the task ("paint drops" is an easier to optimize/comprehend variable). It's not OK to minimize how the execution of the task affects individual atoms ("individual atoms" is a harder to optimize/comprehend variable).

Sources of impact
-----------------

Some hard to optimize/comprehend variables ($V_k$) are "contained" within easy to optimize/comprehend variables ($V_j$). For example:

*   It's hard to comprehend the decision process of a human chess player. However, the way a human interacts with chess pieces is easy to comprehend.
*   The exact effects of the common flu on the human body are relatively hard to comprehend, because the human body is very complex. However, understanding how the virus spreads (an infected person breathing, talking, coughing, or sneezing near you) and diagnosing it is much easier.

We could use this fact to search for unusual sources of complicated impacts.

* * *

Goodhart's Curse
================

According to the principle, we can order all variables by how easy they are to optimize/comprehend ($V_1, V_2, V_3... V_n$). If we could map the variables inside an AI to this order, we could measure how much optimization the AI does. Which is relevant to the [Goodhart problem](https://www.lesswrong.com/w/goodhart-s-law).

The intuition here is that to become *substantially* better at optimizing something, you need to perform progressively more complicated actions and take into account progressively more incomprehensible considerations; you *can* become better by just trying different combinations of the same kind of actions/considerations ($V_j$), but then you're fundamentally limited. **However, there's also a stronger claim:**

An agent exploiting a certain kind of variables ($V_j$) can't game an outer objective, unless *something* starts exploiting less optimizable/comprehensible variables ($V_k$) — which the agent can notice or stop. Assuming the outer objective is chosen with minimal competence and the agent's environment is somewhat stable.

Example: collecting stones
--------------------------

Imagine a superintelligent robot tasked to place stones into a pile. A couple of cameras observe the robot. *"Being seen collecting stones into a pile"* is the outer objective. *"Actually collecting stones into a pile"* is the intent behind the outer objective.

The robot could get reward by going around and grabbing stones (the robot's and stones' movement can be described by $V_j$ variables). The robot could also hack the cameras to produce fake video, but that would require manipulating variables which are substantially harder to optimize/comprehend ($V_k$). If the robot sticks to manipulating $V_j$, everything should be fine.

Another agent could hack the cameras. Less likely, the environment itself could transform into a state where the cameras are hacked. But any of that would imply that $V_k$ variables have changed in a way directly related to how $V_j$ variables can optimize the outer objective. (If cameras are hacked, collecting *real stones* suddenly becomes completely useless for optimizing the outer objective.) The robot can report or stop that.

In some part of the environment getting stones could be as hard as hacking the cameras. For example, maybe we need to hack *the enemy's cameras* to steal their stones. In such case we could whitelist exploiting $V_k$ variables there. The robot can ensure that $V_k$ optimization doesn't "spill" into the rest of the world.

Example: Speedrunning
---------------------

Imagine you measure *"how good one can play a video game"* (the intent) by *"the speed of completing the game"* (the outer objective).

This outer objective can be Goodharted with glitches (anomalously fast movement, teleportation, invincibility, getting score points out of nothing). However, some of the below will be true:

*   The glitches violate normal properties of the game's variables ($V_j$). By giving the player [abnormal speed](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjge1bVobN0&t=166s), for example.
*   Exploiting those glitches requires the player to do actions which can only be explained by more complicated variables ($V_k$). Hitting a wall multiple times to trigger a glitch, for example (you predict this action to be a useless waste of time, unless you model the game with $V_k$ variables).
*   If you vary how the player optimizes $V_j$ variables, the outcome changes in a way not explainable by $V_j$ variables. Because there's a specific sequence of individually innocent actions which triggers a glitch accidentally.

If the player sticks to $V_j$, Goodharting the outer objective is impossible. But expert performance is still possible.

Related: Shard Theory
---------------------

> An agent which desperately and monomaniacally wants to optimize the mathematical (plan/state/trajectory) $↦$ (evaluation) "grader" function is *not* aligned to the goals we had in mind when specifying/training the grader (e.g. "make diamonds"), the agent is aligned to *the evaluations of the grader* (e.g. "a smart person's best guess as to how many diamonds a plan leads to").

I believe the point of ["Don't align agents to evaluations of plans"](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/fopZesxLCGAXqqaPv/don-t-align-agents-to-evaluations-of-plans#Grader_optimization_doesn_t_seem_sensible) can be reformulated as:

*Make agents terminally value easy to optimize/comprehend variables (*$V_j$*), so they won't Goodhart by manipulating hard to optimize/comprehend variables (*$V_k$*).*

My principle supports this point.

More broadly, a big aspect of [Shard Theory](https://www.lesswrong.com/w/shard-theory) can be reformulated as:

*Early in training, Reinforcement Learning agents learn to terminally value easy to optimize/comprehend variables ("shards" are simple computations about simple variables)... that's why they're unlikely to Goodhart their own values by manipulating hard to optimize/comprehend variables.*

If Shard Theory is true, the principle should give insight into how shards behave in all RL agents. Because the principle is true for all agents whose intelligence & values develop gradually and who don't completely abandon their past values.

Related: Mechanistic Anomaly Detection
--------------------------------------

See [glider example](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/FwYMuD2sNcaEpE5on/finding-gliders-in-the-game-of-life), [strawberry example](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/FwYMuD2sNcaEpE5on/finding-gliders-in-the-game-of-life#A_related_problem__finding_strawberries_in_the_real_world), [Boolean circuit example](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/SyeQjjBoEC48MvnQC/formal-verification-heuristic-explanations-and-surprise#Worked_example__Boolean_circuit), [diamond example](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/vwt3wKXWaCvqZyF74/mechanistic-anomaly-detection-and-elk).

I believe the idea of Mechanistic Anomaly Detection can be described like this:

*Any model (*$M_n$*) has "layers of structure" and therefore can be split into versions, ordered from versions with less structure to versions with more structure (*$M_1, M_2, M_3... M_n$*). When we find the version with the least structure which explains the most instances*[^xe9nyn836h9]* of a phenomenon we care about (*$M_j$*), it defines the latent variables we care about.*

This is very similar to the principle, but more ambitious (makes stronger claims about all possible models) and more abstract (doesn't leverage even the most basic properties of human values).

* * *

Interpretability
================

**Claim A.** Say you can comprehend $V_j$ variables, but not $V_k$. You still can understand what $V_k$ variable is the most similar to a $V_j$ variable (and if the former causes the latter); if a change of a $V_k$ variable harms or helps your values (and if the change is necessary or unnecessary); if a $V_k$ variable is contained within a particular part of your world-model or not. According to the principle, this knowledge can be obtained automatically.

**Claim B.** Take an $V_k$ ontology (which describes real things) and a simpler $V_j$ ontology (which might describe nonexistent things). Whatever $V_j$ ontology describes, we can automatically check if there's anything in $V_k$ that corresponds to it OR if searching for a correspondence is too costly.

This is relevant to [interpretability](https://www.lesswrong.com/w/interpretability-ml-and-ai).

Example: Health
---------------

Imagine you can't comprehend how the human body works. Сonsider those statements by your doctor:

*   *"<Something incomprehensible> can kill you."*
*   *"Changing <something incomprehensible> is necessary to avoid dying."*
*   *"<Something incomprehensible> is where your body is."*
*   *"<Something incomprehensible> can destroy your <something incomprehensible>. And the latter is the most similar thing to 'you' and it causes 'you'."*
*   *"I want to change <something incomprehensible> in your body. I didn't consider if it's necessary."*

Despite not understanding it all, you understand everything relevant to your values. For example, from the last statement you understand that the doctor doesn't respect your values.

Now, imagine you're the doctor. You have a very uneducated patient. The patient might say stuff like "inside my body <something> moves from one of my hands to another" or "inside my body <something> keeps expanding below my chest". Whatever they'll describe, you'll know if you know any scientific explanation of that OR if searching for an explanation is too costly.

Related: Ramsey–Lewis method
----------------------------

The above is similar to [Ramsification](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramsey%E2%80%93Lewis_method).

Hypothetical ELK proposal
-------------------------

Claims A and B suggest a hypothetical interpretability method. I'll describe it with a metaphor:

1.  Take Einstein. Make a clone of Einstein. Simplify the clone's brain a bit. As a result, you might get a crazy person (a person believing in nonexistent things). Alternatively, you might get a "bizarre" person (a person believing in things which are too costly for Einstein to verify). According to **claim B**, we can automatically check if any of that happened. If it did happen, we discard the clone and make another one. According to **claim A**, we can automatically check if Einstein is deceiving his dumber clone. Though claims A and B only apply if we can translate brains into models made of $V$ variables.
2.  Repeat the previous step recursively, until you end up with a chain of clones from Einstein to a village idiot. Inside that chain, Einstein can't deceive the village idiot.

In this metaphor, Einstein = an incomprehensible AI. Village idiot = an easily interpretable AI. It's like the [broken telephone game](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_game), except we're fixing broken links.

If some assumptions hold (it's cheap to translate brains into models made of $V$ variables; describing Einstein's cognition doesn't require variables more complex than $V_n$; producing a non-insane non-bizarre clone doesn't take forever), the proposal above gives a solution to [ELK](https://www.lesswrong.com/w/eliciting-latent-knowledge).

* * *

Building AGI
============

Consider this:

*   According to the principle, we can order all variables by how easy they are to optimize/comprehend ($V_1, V_2, V_3... V_n$). Those variables can be turned into AI models ($M_1, M_2, M_3... M_n$). $M_1$ is made out of $V_1$ variables. $M_2$ is made out of $V_2$ variables. And so on. Each model can be [bounded](https://www.lesswrong.com/w/bounded-agent). The progression of models is "continuous", $M_{j+1}$ is similar to $M_j$.
*   $M_n$ has at least human-level intelligence. It can reason about any concept humans find minimally intuitive.
*   For models with low indices, we can verify their inner and outer alignment.
*   The condition of a model's outer alignment is simple: roughly speaking, it shouldn't want to maximize reward by optimizing $V_k$ or more complicated variables. As explained [here](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/h89L5FMAkEBNsZ3xM/untitled-draft-bhvk#Goodhart_s_Curse).
*   We can ensure, in an automated way, that $M_{j+1}$ can't deceive $M_j$. As explained [here](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/h89L5FMAkEBNsZ3xM/untitled-draft-bhvk#Interpretability).

If my principle is formalized, we might obtain a [bounded solution](https://arbital.greaterwrong.com/p/unbounded_analysis?l=107) to outer and inner alignment. (I mean [Task-directed AGI](https://arbital.greaterwrong.com/p/task_agi/) level of outer alignment.) Not saying the procedure is gonna be practical.

* * *

Appendix
========

Comparing variables
-------------------

Here are some additional examples of comparing variables based on their $X$ properties.

Consider what's easier to optimize/comprehend:

1.  a chair or a fly?
2.  a chair or the [Empire State Building](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_State_Building)?
3.  a train or a dog?
4.  anger or hunger?
5.  anger or love?

Here are the answers:

1.  The chair. It's slower and bigger than the fly. Size and speed make the chair easier to track or interact with.
2.  The chair. The Empire State Building is too big and heavy, so it's harder to interact with or observe in detail.
3.  Some aspects of the train are harder to optimize/comprehend (it's very fast and too big). Other aspects of the train are easier to optimize/comprehend (the train doesn't have a brain and runs on a track, so its movement is fundamentally more smooth and predictable; the train's body is fundamentally simpler than the dog's body).
4.  Hunger. It's easier to switch hunger "on" and "off" with simple actions. Anger also leads to more complicated, more varied actions (because it's a more personal, more specific feeling). However, some aspects of anger and hunger can be equally hard to optimize/comprehend.
5.  Anger. It's easier to trigger and increase anger with simple actions. However, some aspects of anger and love can be equally hard to optimize/comprehend.

The analysis above is made from the human perspective and considers "normal" situations (e.g. the situations from the training data, [like in MAD](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/FwYMuD2sNcaEpE5on/finding-gliders-in-the-game-of-life#A_related_problem__finding_strawberries_in_the_real_world)).

Inscrutable brain machinery
---------------------------

Some value judgements (e.g. "this movie is good", "this song is beautiful", or even "this is a conscious being") depend on inscrutable brain machinery, the machinery which creates experience. This contradicts the idea that "easiness of optimization/comprehension can be captured by a few relatively simple mathematical properties". But I think this contradiction is not fatal, for the following reason:

We aren't particularly good at remembering exact experiences, we like very different experiences, we can't access each other's experiences, and we have very limited ways of controlling experiences. So, there should be pretty strict limitations on how much understanding of the inscrutable brain machinery is required for respecting the current human values. Therefore, defining corrigible behavior ("don't kill everyone", "don't seek power", "don't mess with human brains") shouldn't require answering many specific, complicated machinery-dependent questions ("what separates good and bad movies?", "what separates good and bad life?", "what separates conscious and unconscious beings?").

A more detailed explanation of the claims behind the principle
--------------------------------------------------------------

Imagine you have a set of some properties ($X$). Let's say it's just one property, "speed". You can assign speed to any "simple" variable (observable or latent). However, you can combine multiple simple variables, with drastically different speeds, into a single "complex" variable. As a result, you get a potentially infinite-dimensional space $𝕍$ (a complex variable made out of $n$ simple variables is an $n$-dimensional object). You reduce the high-dimensional space into a low-dimensional space $V$. For simplicity, let's say it's a one-dimensional space. Inevitably, such reduction requires making arbitrary choices and losing information.

Here are the most important consequences of the principle, along with some additional justifications:

1.  Easiness of optimization/comprehension can be captured by a few relatively simple mathematical properties (let's redefine $X$ as the set of those properties). Those properties can describe explicit and implicit predictions about the world. **Justification:** there are pretty simple factors which make something harder to optimize or comprehend for humans. Therefore, there should be a relatively simple metric.
2.  High-dimensional $𝕍$ can be reduced to low-dimensional $V$ without losing too much information. **Justification:** introspectively, human ability to comprehend and human action space don't appear very high-dimensional, in the relevant sense. Therefore, human values can only be based on variables for which (2) is true.
3.  $V$ has no large gaps, any variable $v_i$ ("i" is a coordinate) has another variable close enough. **Justification:** same as the justification of the principle.
4.  $V$ is "small", in some sense. Variables have a lot of shared structure and/or not all of them are equally important to human values. **Justification:** if this weren't true, it would be impossible to reflect on your values or try to optimize them holistically. Your values would feel like an endless list of obscure rules you can never remember and follow. By the way, this is another justification for (2).
5.  You can isolate, in some sense, the optimization of more complex variables from the optimization of simpler variables. **Justification:** if this weren't true, human technology would be incompatible with preserving any pre-technological values.

There are value systems for which claims 1-5 aren't true. In that sense, they're empirical. However, I argue that the claims are a priori true for humans, no matter how wrong our beliefs about the world are.

**Some June edits, before 11/06/25:** added a little bit of content and made a couple of small edits.  
 

[^igvkxsapoc]: "Could" is important here. You can optimize/comprehend a thing (in principle) even if you aren't aware of its existence. For example: cave people could easily optimize "the amount of stone knives made of quantum waves" without knowing what quantum waves are; you could in principle easily comprehend typical behavior of red-lipped batfishes even if you never decide to actually do it. 

[^frlkvqfj5ug]: An important objection to this claim involves inscrutable brain machinery. 

[^0y0u5mviajqh]: For example, I care about subtle forms of pleasure because they're similar to simpler forms of pleasure. I care about more complex notions of "fairness" and "freedom" because they're similar to simpler notions of "fairness" and "freedom". I care about the concept of "real strawberries" because it's similar to the concept of "sensory information about strawberries". Etc.Or consider prehistoric people. Even by today's standards, they had a lot of non-trivial positive values ("friendship", "love", "adventure", etc.) and could've easily lived very moral lives, if they avoided violence. Giant advances in knowledge and technology didn't change human values that much. Humans want to have relatively simple lives. Optimizing overly complex variables would make life too chaotic, uncontrollable, and unpleasant. 

[^z4pd2ro0owj]: Note that it would be pretty natural to care about the existence of the pseudorandom number generator, but "the existence of the PRNG" is a much more comprehensible variable than "the current value of the PRNG".Also, as far as I'm aware, Super Mario Bros. doesn't actually have a pseudorandom number generator. But just imagine that it does. 

[^tqgpvudt6n]: "Up to now it has been assumed that all our cognition must conform to the objects; but all attempts to find out something about them a priori through concepts that would extend our cognition have, on this presupposition, come to nothing. Hence let us once try whether we do not get farther with the problems of metaphysics by assuming that the objects must conform to our cognition, which would agree better with the requested possibility of an a priori cognition of them, which is to establish something about objects before they are given to us. This would be just like the first thoughts of Copernicus, who, when he did not make good progress in the explanation of the celestial motions if he assumed that the entire celestial host revolves around the observer, tried to see if he might not have greater success if he made the observer revolve and left the stars at rest." (c.) The Critique of Pure Reason, by Immanuel Kant, Bxvi–xviii 

[^46cac3jes25]: I mean, we do care about that model being inner-aligned. But this is a separate problem.  

[^xe9nyn836h9]: the most instances in training