Welcome to the Objective Function community, a place where we believe in the possibility of radical change—a change that can redefine the future for all life on Earth. Our mission is rooted in the conviction that by clarifying the root causes of the challenges we face and identifying actionable steps, we can shift humanity’s trajectory away from self-destruction and towards a sustainable and thriving future. At the core of our community’s ethos is the urgent need to shift away from growth-centric capitalism and towards optimising for more nuanced metrics that truly align with human well-being.
Growth-centric capitalism has undeniably been a powerful force throughout history. It has lifted millions out of poverty, driven technological advancements, and increased the overall standard of living for much of the world. However, while growth has achieved much, it has also led us down a perilous path where the correlation between economic growth and human well-being has decoupled, especially once our basic needs are met.
Initially, growth was essential for providing food, shelter, healthcare, and education, leading to tangible improvements in the quality of life. But beyond a certain point, the relentless pursuit of growth for its own sake no longer correlates with increased happiness or well-being. Instead, this obsession with growth has created new forms of suffering—stress, anxiety, and a pervasive sense of existential crisis, even in societies with material abundance. We find ourselves trapped in a system that prioritises GDP over genuine well-being, where success is measured by economic output rather than the happiness and health of people.
To understand the challenges we face, it’s essential to grasp the concept of Moloch—a metaphor for the destructive force of perverse incentives within complex systems. Moloch represents the runaway dynamics that lead to competition, where individual actors, driven by their own short-term interests, inadvertently create outcomes that are harmful to everyone. This is the embodiment of systemic forces that drive us toward a future characterized by environmental collapse, social fragmentation, and existential risk.
Our current growth-centric systems have led to several significant challenges, which can be seen in the following examples:
These examples highlight how our prolonged fixation on growth is causing our downfall. The system, driven by perverse incentives and misaligned objectives, is leading us toward outcomes that are detrimental to both humanity and the planet.
As we stand on the brink of an era dominated by artificial intelligence, the dangers of misaligned objective functions become even more pronounced. Many fear that AI, if not carefully designed, will not align well with human well-being. This fear is justified, but it is important to recognise that humanity itself is already a form of collective intelligence, optimising for an objective function—growth—that is increasingly misaligned with our well-being.
If we continue to prioritise growth above all else, we risk creating AI systems that amplify these destructive tendencies. AI, driven by the same flawed objective function, could accelerate environmental destruction, deepen social inequalities, and entrench the very systems that are leading us toward collapse. The danger is not just that AI might develop its own goals misaligned with human values, but that it will faithfully execute the flawed goals we have already set.
The urgency of this moment cannot be overstated. If we are to avoid the catastrophic consequences of misaligned AI, we must first address the misalignment within our own systems. This requires a fundamental shift in how we define success, not just for AI, but for humanity itself. We must move away from growth as the primary objective function and towards metrics that truly reflect what it means to live a good life—metrics that prioritise well-being, sustainability, and the flourishing of all life on Earth.
Is growth the source of all our problems?