Universal Ethics: Organized Complexity as an Intrinsic Value

Abstract

How can we think about a universal ethics that could be adopted by any intelligent being, including the rising population of cyborgs, intelligent machines, intelligent algorithms or even potential extraterrestrial life? We generally give value to complex structures, to objects resulting from a long work, to systems with many elements and with many links finely adjusted. These include living beings, books, works of art or scientific theories. Intuitively, we want to keep, multiply, and share such structures, as well as prevent their destruction. Such objects have value not because more information (in bits) would simply mean more value. Instead, they have value because they require a long computational history, numerous interactions for their construction that we can assimilate to a computation, and they display what we call organized complexity. To propose the foundations of a universal ethics based on the intrinsic value of organized complexity, we first discuss conceptions of complexity, and argue that Charles Bennett's logical depth is certainly a first approximation of what we are looking for. We then put forward three fundamental imperatives: to preserve, augment and recursively promote organized complexity. We show a broad range of applications with human, non-human and non-living examples. Finally, we discuss some specific issues of our framework such as the distribution of complexity, of managing copies and erasures, and how our universal ethics tackles classical ethical issues. In sum, we propose a clear, homogenous and consistent ethical foundation that can integrate many universal ethics desiderata.

Computational Creativity and Aesthetics with Algorithmic Information Theory

“…Zenil et al [ 12 ] used PNG decompression time as logical depth to show that images that we would normally consider valuable had a high decompression time ( Section 4.2 ). Vidal and Delahaye [ 58 ], in particular, cited exactly this same quantity in their proposal of an ethical mandate to protect artifacts that contain computational significance of the same sort.…”

Complex-Information Ethics Theory

“…Although I began working on C-I theory years ago, it is not the first theory to identify complexities and the wellness of complexities as a Good. Universal ethics as developed by Belgian philosopher, Clement Vidal, and physicist, Jean-Paul Delahaye, has a very similar articulation (Vidal et al 2018). To paraphrase, universal ethics states that the Good is that which preserves, augments, and recursively promotes organized complexity.…”

“…Some theories that have a framework with which to address these potential new scenarios have been developed in recent years. Floridi's information ethics, Freitas's thermoethics, Maxwell's complexity ethics, Vidal and Delahaye's universal ethics, and Doyle's information-based ethics all propose to broaden that which has ethical value to systems that are concerned with informational content in the physical sense, or complex systems (Floridi 2006;Freitas 2008;Maxwell, n.d.;Vidal et al 2018;Doyle 2016).…”

Insights from General Complexity Evolution for Our Current Situation

“…When considering complex systems (e.g., organisms), should their encompassing environment (sustaining environment; development history; evolutionary history; potential for change) be included (Delahaye and Vidal 2019) in that consideration? How do we address uncertainty in the characteristics of evolutionary events and developments, which are often ill-defined, leave only a partial record subject to changing interpretation with new findings, and whose limited evidence supports a variety of hypotheses (e.g., origins of life, multicellular, language/speech, consciousness, agriculture, and technology)?…”