AIM Framework glossary
Undifferentiated Desire Fallacy
Canonical definition
The Undifferentiated Desire Fallacy is the mistake of treating all wanting as a single category without distinguishing the source that generated it, so that the intent to eat when starving, the intent to practise music for its own sake, and the intent to acquire a status symbol are treated as one psychological phenomenon, as theories of utility, preference, motivation and interest characteristically treat them.
Explanation
Most theories of behaviour start by assuming that all wanting is the same kind of thing, so a starving person's hunger, a musician's love of practice, and a shopper's craving for a status symbol all count as one "preference". AIM holds that these come from structurally different sources that behave differently, stop differently, and call for different responses, so lumping them together hides exactly the differences that matter. The same mistake recurs in AI safety, where standard "utility maximiser" stories blur together systems that brutally protect some proxy (A-like), systems that keep optimising in open-ended ways (I-like), and systems that chase what looks popular or prestigious (M-like).
Epistemic status
Framework-Specific Construct.