Answer: prosperous societies run on well-constructed institutions, not universal alignment

ethanniser · x · 2026-09-12

Answering his own question about how societies thrive despite unaligned humans, the author argues the answer is well-constructed processes and institutions — and that such mechanisms can be built for human/agent societies too. The upshot: AI alignment needn't require every agent to be perfectly aligned; institutional design offers a template.

Related event: Institutions, Not Alignment, Enable Human Flourishing—and Could Work for AI Too(2 posts)→

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