“#196 – The edge cases of sentience and why they matter (Jonathan Birch on The 80,000 Hours Podcast) ” by 80000_Hours

We just published an interview: Jonathan Birch on the edge cases of sentience and why they matter. Listen on Spotify, watch on Youtube, or click through for other audio options, the transcript, and related links. Below are the episode summary and some key excerpts. Episode summary In the 1980s, it was still apparently common to perform surgery on newborn babies without anaesthetic on both sides of the Atlantic. This led to appalling cases, and to public outcry, and to campaigns to change clinical practice. And as soon as [some courageous scientists] looked for evidence, it showed that this practice was completely indefensible and then the clinical practice was changed. People don’t need convincing anymore that we should take newborn human babies seriously as sentience candidates. But the tale is a useful cautionary tale, because it shows you how deep that overconfidence can run and how problematic it can be. [...] ---Outline:(00:28) Episode summary(02:19) Highlights(02:22) The history of neonatal surgery without anaesthetic(04:45) Overconfidence around disorders of consciousness(08:02) Separating abortion from the issue of foetal sentience(11:23) The cases for and against neural organoids(15:10) Artificial sentience arising from whole brain emulations of roundworms and fruit flies(20:25) Using citizens assemblies to do policymaking--- First published: August 16th, 2024 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/kf3ttuWghvF2TeL6R/196-the-edge-cases-of-sentience-and-why-they-matter-jonathan --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.