Eliezer Schlomo Yudkowsky / LessWrong

[Holdek]

I dunno. I found out about this site because one of the guys who helped invent bitcoin kept a journal there about his decline with ALS, which was pretty interesting. I poked around a bit after that but didn't see anything lolcowish, just kind of boring,

 

[AnOminous]

I dunno. I found out about this site because one of the guys who helped create bitcoin kept a journal there about his decline with ALS, which was pretty interesting. I poked around a bit after that but didn't see anything lolcowish, just kind of boring,

I'd guess that would be Hal Finney, one of the early cypherpunks. He had a hand in developing PGP and also the first Type I (cypherpunk) remailers. He had his head frozen by Alcor, incidentally.

 

[Zarkon]

I think this guy is a lolcow. He basically freaked out because he thought thinking about some mythic device would bring it to life, which would then come back in time to make you build it. That's insane. I don't care how many people think he's smart, he's definitely autistic on some level and is putting up a front to make himself look like the genius that he ain't.

Seriously, let me repeat that: he's scared of an idea that your brain can create a villainous technological God that has to force you to assist in its creation. COME ON!!

 

[Bungleboy]

More evidence of the brilliant minds that surround Yudkowsky.

If you sincerely call a form of your thought process 'dark art's and do it to purge scary painful thoughts, then you are a lolcow.

 

[Gagamaru]

Arthurchu was my favorite sonichu background character.

 

[AnOminous]

More evidence of the brilliant minds that surround Yudkowsky.

I forgot that he'd claimed Yudkowsky as a (sort of) inspiration for this absolutely bugshit insane post, where he admits he's basically a Nazi but somehow right for it, and that excising your own thoughts is a good thing if you want to be a mindless automaton.

Even if Arthur Chu's main mental ability is being an autistic pile of random factoids, which is how he won on Jeopardy, he's still an example of how a reasonable person can fall into the same mental pit as the Jonestown cultists, Scientologists, Branch Davidians, ISIS, etc.

He's basically describing the process of radicalization and brainwashing. The thought removal thing is also pretty similar to the "self-criticism" of Maoists in the Cultural Revolution, something also later adopted by cults in the United States.

It's not a way to "win." It's a way to become a psycho.

 

[Keerakh]

What was all that shit.about Arthur chu and something to-do with a rape incident?

 

[AnOminous]

What was all that shit.about Arthur chu and something to-do with a rape incident?

He said he knew rapists in college, but he didn't tell the police because they were his friends, and he was bad before he discovered "social justice." Apparently, he is still continuing to cover for the college rapists he knew, because so far as I know, he's never called the cops about the rapes he knows about. Even though the statute of limitations wouldn't have expired.

Back to Yudkowsky/Chu, though, I should note that Chu's bizarre stormtrooper philosophy (hey comparing himself to a Nazi was HIS idea) doesn't really reflect Yudkowsky. The one thing Chu said that did make sense was that Yudkowsky is pretty much better at getting his followers to admit to propositions he agrees with than actually being rational.

 

[Sarcastic Username]

More evidence of the brilliant minds that surround Yudkowsky.

If you sincerely call a form of your thought process 'dark art's and do it to purge scary painful thoughts, then you are a lolcow.

Chu and Shlomo have to be arch-enemies, and it's hard to think of which of them is the bigger arse.

 

[AnOminous]

Chu and Shlomo have to be arch-enemies, and it's hard to think of which of them is the bigger arse.

I'd have to go with Chu. Schlomo has asshat followers, while Chu is an asshat follower.

 

[Marvin]

If this guy is so smart, well shit, then why doesn't he get to coding? Get to work on that Friendly AI™ you keep talking about.

 

[tomgirl4life]

When your Wikipedia article has a section devoted to your Harry Potter fanfiction that's larger than your biography it tells me everything I need to know about anything you have to say.

 

[Bungleboy]

If this guy is so smart, well shit, then why doesn't he get to coding? Get to work on that Friendly AI™ you keep talking about.

He needs money for his foundation and to finish his fanfic.

I'm not making a derogatory joke.

That is what he said.

Also, his group, MIRI, has one whole member with a dgeree in computer science

one.

These people aren't even amateur scientists, they're cargo cult scientists.

 

[A Random]

He did finish his fanfic.

 

[Falcon Lord]

He did finish his fanfic.

What a tremendous achievement!

 

[Bungleboy]

What a tremendous achievement!

Okay so I was wrong on the fanfic. So he's not coding because he's lazy and/or incompetent.

Also....

Big Yud wants Rowling to help him publish his fanfic

He wants Rowling to help publish his unauthorized work that is completely different from and opposed to the tone, style, and base message of the source material.

He's on the same level as those furries who contact SEGA to ask permission to direct sonic movies. How does reddit take this man seriously?

 

[Rin]

Obstacle #1: I need a mode of writing that costs fewer spoons and does not come out of my ‘real work’ budget.

Baaw, writing my pointless fanfic is too much like real work! Also, I'm amused that he uses SJ concepts like "spoons." The term "hedonics" also appears, God only knows what that means.

Honestly, the fact that he wants to publish it pisses me off. Like J. K. Rowling's going to approve a book telling her that her characters suck because they're not super "Rationalists." He didn't even read the damn books in the first place, why should Rowling read his shit? As a side note, Rowling's people came down hard on someone who tried to publish a Harry Potter encyclopedia or something. I doubt they're going to let him sell his fanfic, even if the money does go to charity.

 

[autisticdragonkin]

The term "hedonics" also appears, God only knows what that means.

Hedonics is likely supposed to be hedons which is a hypothetical unit of happiness created by Jeremy Bentham
LessWrong uses a lot of philosophy terminology sometimes incorrectly

 

[AnOminous]

Hedonics is likely supposed to be hedons which is a hypothetical unit of happiness created by Jeremy Bentham
LessWrongsuses a lot of philosophy terminology sometimes incorrectly

It's been around for a while.

2.B.2 pl. {hedonics}: The doctrine of pleasure; that part of ethics which treats of pleasure.

I think part of what grinds my gears about these guys are they are about as far off the rails as you can take utilitarian concepts.

If you actually take utilitarianism seriously, you can't but notice that there is very little utility in the spastic activities of Yudkowsky and friends. None of this MIRI crap is ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, in a million years, going to lead to any kind of AI. Any effort diverted into this rubbish just distracts from any goal any of the people in it claim to have.

 

[autisticdragonkin]

If you actually take utilitarianism seriously, you can't but notice that there is very little utility in the spastic activities of Yudkowsky and friends. None of this MIRI crap is ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, in a million years, going to lead to any kind of AI. Any effort diverted into this rubbish just distracts from any goal any of the people in it claim to have.

You could say that their mental masturbation makes them happy and because they wouldn't be doing anything productive anyways then they should be mentally masturbating. I doubt that any actual serious people/resources get drawn into this.