Toby Ord Pushes Back on Industrial Explosion Arguments: Physical Feasibility Isn't Incentives
tobyordoxford · x · 2026-09-21
Philosopher Toby Ord, in a discussion with Ryan Greenblatt and Paw Trammell, argues that work sketching 'industrial explosions' (notably by Damon and Ryan) shows what is physically and practically possible if everyone optimized for it, but falls short of proving people will actually optimize for it. He also credits Phil's explanation that diminishing-returns curves for income in a given year miss gains from new, superior varieties, while remaining unsure whether that argument applies here.
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