Start here · Step 5 of 8

Value: when some states are better than others

Once a system is aware of information and responds to it, a new distinction appears: some responses help the system stay organised, while others do not. Whenever a system can do better orworse at continuing, we say it has value.

A hungry animal

Picture an animal navigating a landscape. It can move toward food or away from it, toward shelter or into danger. The same information (smells, sounds, light) can lead to different outcomes depending on how the animal responds.

For that animal, some states of the world are better in a literal sense: they support its continued existence. Others are worse—leading to starvation, injury, or collapse of organisation. This gradient of better and worse is what IO calls value.

Value before morality

This isn’t morality yet. A thermostat “prefers” certain temperatures without having ethical opinions. A bacterium “prefers” nutrient-rich regions without having a moral code.

IO’s point is that as soon as a system’s awareness is tied to its own survival or flourishing, value is baked into its structure. Moral questions build later on top of this simpler fact.

What to carry forward

The key idea:

When awareness makes some outcomes better or worse for a system’s continued existence, value is already present.