LessWrong

Eliezer Yudkowsky Explains Why Clever Human-Designed Schemes Fail at ASI Alignment

Eliezer Yudkowsky published the essay Cat-Belling Problems following debates at the ILIAD-2026 conference on mathematical AI safety. The piece uses the historical example of Michael Lorrey's proposed reactionless L-drive to illustrate why complex compensatory systems cannot violate conservation of momentum. Yudkowsky argues that any spreadsheet or design claiming net thrust from standard physics components must contain an accounting error because every individual interaction preserves momentum. He extends the analogy to proposals for solving superalignment of ASI, noting that hidden patented compensators or uninspectable calculations do not change the underlying mathematical impossibility. The essay contrasts superficial generalizations like the Law of White Swans with deep laws derived from Noether's theorem and quantum mechanics. Richard Feynman's encounters with perpetual motion machines of the third kind are cited to show how claims of new physics require experimental demonstration rather than unverified tables.