Applied computational kindness

Computation requires resources. In the world of machines it requires electricity, storage capacity, etc. If for example we look at the Bitcoin network then we can see the cost of generating a Bitcoin (estimated between $3000-6000). This cost is due to the cost of the electricity which it takes to generate the Bitcoin and many other factors. In other words all computation costs something in resources which means no computation is "free computation".

Humans compute as well. Human computation has a resource cost measured in "calories". Thinking is a behavior and all behaviors burn calories. Computational kindness is an important concept because it recognizes that asking a person to think very hard about something is resource expensive.

For example our laws are very computationally expensive. In order to follow the law a person must learn about the laws that exist. The "Ignorantia juris non excusat" passes the computational cost onto the law abiding citizen. It says you do not have permission to use ignorance as an excuse for breaking the law. The problem is all human beings are involuntarily ignorant which means this quote requires that humans go beyond human physiology to keep up with the law or that humans hire legal counsel to help then navigate the laws which they don't know exist.

Computational kindness is about reducing the computation resource cost in order to save energy for someone else. So for example if you as a favor decide to be nice and think on behalf of someone else, it can save the other person resources. Knowledge if it does exist is only going to be helpful if it can save people resources which includes the time to process the knowledge. To simply give everyone a library of all the math formulas of the earth is not going to make everyone into a mathematician but if you can develop some useful apps, tools, which can apply these math formulas when the person needs them, without the person having to invest their own computation resources, this allows the person to spend their scarce computational resources on something more important to them.

• If you remember something for someone else who does not have a memory as good as yours then this is an example of computational kindness.
• If you can make decisions on behalf of someone else (with their permission) then you are sparing them resources.
• If you analyze data for someone else and return the result, then you're saving them resources.