The Great Smoothing Out

In this thought-provoking LessWrong essay, author Sturb examines the tension between cultural preservation and individual utility maximization in a future shaped by AI and global optimization. The piece uses the fictional Culture from Iain M. Banks as a starting point to question whether traditions like Japanese folk dancing can survive in a world where people prioritize personal fulfillment over ancestral obligations. Sturb introduces the concept of 'the great smoothing out,' where cultural differences act as friction that progress inevitably erases.

Sturb illustrates this with a vignette about Yuri, a Japanese girl pressured to continue her grandmother's shrine maiden traditions, and cites China's new 'Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress,' which mandates Mandarin prominence over local ethnic languages in schools. The essay argues that while we value cultural heritage, the natural tendency is toward homogenization as economic incentives push people to adopt dominant languages and practices. Language loss is at an all-time high, and the piece questions whether it's perverse to selectively preserve traditions we happen to inherit today, or whether we should accept this as a natural part of history.