Eliezer informs readers that he had accidentally published the previous post, "Nonsentient Optimizers", when it was only halfway done.
Eliezer mentions four interpretations of "A man can do as he wills, but not will as he wills.", a quote by Arthur Schopenhauer.
A fictional exchange between Mark HamilHamill and George Lucas over the scene in Empire Strikes Back where Luke Skywalker attempts to lift his X-wing with the force.
CEV is not the essence of goodness. If functioning properly, it is supposed to work analogously to a mirror -- a mirror is not inherently apple-shaped, but in the presence of an apple, it reflects the image of an apple. In the presence of the Pebblesorters, an AI running CEV would begin transforming the universe into heaps containing prime numbers of pebbles. In the presence of humankind, an AI running CEV would begin doing whatever is right for it to do.
Good things aren't good because humans care about what's good. ThingsGood things are good because they save lives, make people happy, give us control over our own lives, involve us with others and prevent us from collapsing into total self-absorption, keep life complex and non-repeating and aesthetic and interesting, etc.
Good things aren't good because humans care about what's good. Things are good because they save lives, make people happy, give us control over our own lives, involve us with others and prevent us from collapsing into total self-absorption, keep life complex and non-repeating and aesthetic and interesting, etc.
Many people try to vote "strategically", by considering which candidate is more "electable". One of the most important factors in whether someone is "electable" is whether they have received attention from the media and the support of one of the two major parties. Naturally, those organizations put considerable thought into who is electable in making their decision. Ultimately, all arguments for "strategic voting" tend to fall apart. The voters themselves get so little say in whywho the next president is that the best we can do is just to not vote for nincompoops.
The behaviorists thought that speaking about anything like a mind, or emotions, or thoughts, was unscientific. After all, they said, you can't observe anger. You can just observe behavior. But, it is possible, using empathy, to correctly predict wide varieties of behavior, which you can't account for by pavlovianPavlovian conditioning.
The existence of a neat little word prevents you from seeing the details of the thing you're trying to think about. What actually goes on in schools once you stop calling it "education"? What's a degree, once you stop calling it a "degree"? If a coin lands "heads", what's its radial orientation? What is "truth", if you can't say "accurate" or "correct" or "represent" or "reflect" or "semantic" or "believe" or "knowledge" or "map" or "real" or
(alternate summary:)
The existence of a neat little word prevents you from seeing the details of the thing you're trying to think about.
(alternate summary:)
The existence of a neat little word prevents you from seeing the details of the thing you're trying to think about. What actually goes on in schools once you stop calling it "education"? What's a degree, once you stop calling it a "degree"? If a coin lands "heads", what's its radial orientation? What is "truth", if you can't say "accurate" or "correct" or "represent" or "reflect" or "semantic" or "believe" or "knowledge" or "map" or "real" or any other simple term?
This is where the "free will" puzzle is explicitly posed, along with criteria for what does and does not constitute a satisfying answer.
(alternate summary:)
this is where the "free will" puzzle is explicitly posed, along with criteria for what does and does not constitute a satisfying answer.
(alternate summary:)
You allow an argument to slide into being about definitions, even though it isn't what you originally wanted to argue about. If, before a dispute started about whether a tree falling in a deserted forest makes a "sound", you asked the two soon-to-be arguers whether they thought a "sound" should be defined as "acoustic vibrations" or "auditory experiences", they'd probably tell you to flip a coin. Only after the argument starts does the definition of a word becom
(alternate summary:)
You allow an argument to slide into being about definitions, even though it isn't what you originally wanted to argue about.
(alternate summary:)
You allow an argument to slide into being about definitions, even though it isn't what you originally wanted to argue about. If, before a dispute started about whether a tree falling in a deserted forest makes a "sound", you asked the two soon-to-be arguers whether they thought a "sound" should be defined as "acoustic vibrations" or "auditory experiences", they'd probably tell you to flip a coin. Only after the argument starts does the definition of a word become politically charged.
Eliezer warns readers that he is about to make a few posts directly discussing politics.
The many worlds of quantum mechanics are not some strange, alien universe into which you have been thrust. They are where you have always lived. Egan's Law: "It all adds up to normality." Then why care about quantum physics at all? Because there's still the question of what adds up to normality, and the answer to this question turns out to be, "Quantum physics." If you're thinking of building any strange philosophies around many-worlds, you probably shouldn't - that's not what it's for.
If the laws of physics control everything we do, then how can our choices be meaningful? Because you are physics. You aren't competing with physics for control of the universe, you are within physics. Anything you control is necessarily controlled by physics.
We throw away "time" but retain causality, and with it, the concepts "control" and "decide". To talk of something as having been "always determined" is mixing up a timeless and a timeful conclusion, with paradoxical results. When you take a perspective outside time, you have to be careful not to let your old, timeful intuitions run wild in the absence of their subject matter.
(alternate summary:)
(from The Quantum Physics Sequence)
Playing Devil's Advocate is occasionally helpful, but much less so than it appears. Ultimately, you should only be able to create plausible arguments for things that are actually plausible.
(just the science, for students confused by their physics textbooks)
(quantum physics does not make the universe any more mysterious than it was previously)
An index of posts explaining quantum mechanics and the many-worlds interpretation.
(the many-worlds interpretations wins outright given the current state of evidence)
(alternate summary:)
An index of posts explaining quantum mechanics and the many-worlds interpretation.
A shortened index into the Quantum Physics Sequence describing only the prerequisite knowledge to understand the statement that "science can rule out a notion of personal identity that depends on your being composed of the same atoms - because modern physics has taken the concept of 'same atom' and thrown it out the window. There are no little billiard balls with individual identities. It's experimentally ruled out." The key post in this sequence is Timeless Identity, in which "Having used physics to completely trash all naive theories of identity, we reassemble a conception of persons and experiences from what is left" but this finale might make little sense without the prior discussion.
(alternate summary:)
(the ontology of quantum mechanics, in which there are no particles with individual identities, rules out theories of personal continuity that invoke "the same atoms" as a concept)
The many worlds of quantum mechanics are not some strange, alien universe into which you have been thrust. They are where you have always lived. Egan's Law: "It all adds up to normality." Then why care about quantum physics at all? Because there's still the question of what adds up to normality, and the answer to this question turns out to be, "Quantum physics." If you're thinking of building any strange philosophies around many-worlds, you probably shouldn't - that's not what it's for.
If the laws of physics control everything we do, then how can our choices be meaningful? Because you are physics. You aren't competing with physics for control of the universe, you are within physics. Anything you control is necessarily controlled by physics.
We throw away "time" but retain causality, and with it, the concepts "control" and "decide". To talk of something as having been "always determined" is mixing up a timeless and a timeful conclusion, with paradoxical results. When you take a perspective outside time, you have to be careful not to let your old, timeful intuitions run wild in the absence of their subject matter.
(alternate summary:)
(from The Quantum Physics Sequence)
Playing Devil's Advocate is occasionally helpful, but much less so than it appears. Ultimately, you should only be able to create plausible arguments for things that are actually plausible.
(just the science, for students confused by their physics textbooks)
(quantum physics does not make the universe any more mysterious than it was previously)
An index of posts explaining quantum mechanics and the many-worlds interpretation.
(the many-worlds interpretations wins outright given the current state of evidence)
(alternate summary:)
An index of posts explaining quantum mechanics and the many-worlds interpretation.
A shortened index into the Quantum Physics Sequence describing only the prerequisite knowledge to understand the statement that "science can rule out a notion of personal identity that depends on your being composed of the same atoms - because modern physics has taken the concept of 'same atom' and thrown it out the window. There are no little billiard balls with individual identities. It's experimentally ruled out." The key post in this sequence is Timeless Identity, in which "Having used physics to completely trash all naive theories of identity, we reassemble a conception of persons and experiences from what is left" but this finale might make little sense without the prior discussion.
(alternate summary:)
(the ontology of quantum mechanics, in which there are no particles with individual identities, rules out theories of personal continuity that invoke "the same atoms" as a concept)
The many worlds of quantum mechanics are not some strange, alien universe into which you have been thrust. They are where you have always lived. Egan's Law: "It all adds up to normality." Then why care about quantum physics at all? Because there's still the question of what adds up to normality, and the answer to this question turns out to be, "Quantum physics." If you're thinking of building any strange philosophies around many-worlds, you probably shouldn't - that's not what it's for.
If the laws of physics control everything we do, then how can our choices be meaningful? Because you are physics. You aren't competing with physics for control of the universe, you are within physics. Anything you control is necessarily controlled by physics.
We throw away "time" but retain causality, and with it, the concepts "control" and "decide". To talk of something as having been "always determined" is mixing up a timeless and a timeful conclusion, with paradoxical results. When you take a perspective outside time, you have to be careful not to let your old, timeful intuitions run wild in the absence of their subject matter.
(alternate summary:)
(from The Quantum Physics Sequence)
Playing Devil's Advocate is occasionally helpful, but much less so than it appears. Ultimately, you should only be able to create plausible arguments for things that are actually plausible.
(just the science, for students confused by their physics textbooks)
(quantum physics does not make the universe any more mysterious than it was previously)
An index of posts explaining quantum mechanics and the many-worlds interpretation.
(the many-worlds interpretations wins outright given the current state of evidence)
(alternate summary:)
An index of posts explaining quantum mechanics and the many-worlds interpretation.
A shortened index into the Quantum Physics Sequence describing only the prerequisite knowledge to understand the statement that "science can rule out a notion of personal identity that depends on your being composed of the same atoms - because modern physics has taken the concept of 'same atom' and thrown it out the window. There are no little billiard balls with individual identities. It's experimentally ruled out." The key post in this sequence is Timeless Identity, in which "Having used physics to completely trash all naive theories of identity, we reassemble a conception of persons and experiences from what is left" but this finale might make little sense without the prior discussion.
(alternate summary:)
(the ontology of quantum mechanics, in which there are no particles with individual identities, rules out theories of personal continuity that invoke "the same atoms" as a concept)
The many worlds of quantum mechanics are not some strange, alien universe into which you have been thrust. They are where you have always lived. Egan's Law: "It all adds up to normality." Then why care about quantum physics at all? Because there's still the question of what adds up to normality, and the answer to this question turns out to be, "Quantum physics." If you're thinking of building any strange philosophies around many-worlds, you probably shouldn't - that's not what it's for.
If the laws of physics control everything we do, then how can our choices be meaningful? Because you are physics. You aren't competing with physics for control of the universe, you are within physics. Anything you control is necessarily controlled by physics.
We throw away "time" but retain causality, and with it, the concepts "control" and "decide". To talk of something as having been "always determined" is mixing up a timeless and a timeful conclusion, with paradoxical results. When you take a perspective outside time, you have to be careful not to let your old, timeful intuitions run wild in the absence of their subject matter.
(alternate summary:)
(from The Quantum Physics Sequence)
Playing Devil's Advocate is occasionally helpful, but much less so than it appears. Ultimately, you should only be able to create plausible arguments for things that are actually plausible.
(just the science, for students confused by their physics textbooks)
(quantum physics does not make the universe any more mysterious than it was previously)
An index of posts explaining quantum mechanics and the many-worlds interpretation.
(the many-worlds interpretations wins outright given the current state of evidence)
(alternate summary:)
An index of posts explaining quantum mechanics and the many-worlds interpretation.
A shortened index into the Quantum Physics Sequence describing only the prerequisite knowledge to understand the statement that "science can rule out a notion of personal identity that depends on your being composed of the same atoms - because modern physics has taken the concept of 'same atom' and thrown it out the window. There are no little billiard balls with individual identities. It's experimentally ruled out." The key post in this sequence is Timeless Identity, in which "Having used physics to completely trash all naive theories of identity, we reassemble a conception of persons and experiences from what is left" but this finale might make little sense without the prior discussion.
(alternate summary:)
(the ontology of quantum mechanics, in which there are no particles with individual identities, rules out theories of personal continuity that invoke "the same atoms" as a concept)
The many worlds of quantum mechanics are not some strange, alien universe into which you have been thrust. They are where you have always lived. Egan's Law: "It all adds up to normality." Then why care about quantum physics at all? Because there's still the question of what adds up to normality, and the answer to this question turns out to be, "Quantum physics." If you're thinking of building any strange philosophies around many-worlds, you probably shouldn't - that's not what it's for.
If the laws of physics control everything we do, then how can our choices be meaningful? Because you are physics. You aren't competing with physics for control of the universe, you are within physics. Anything you control is necessarily controlled by physics.
We throw away "time" but retain causality, and with it, the concepts "control" and "decide". To talk of something as having been "always determined" is mixing up a timeless and a timeful conclusion, with paradoxical results. When you take a perspective outside time, you have to be careful not to let your old, timeful intuitions run wild in the absence of their subject matter.
(alternate summary:)
(from The Quantum Physics Sequence)
Playing Devil's Advocate is occasionally helpful, but much less so than it appears. Ultimately, you should only be able to create plausible arguments for things that are actually plausible.
(just the science, for students confused by their physics textbooks)
(quantum physics does not make the universe any more mysterious than it was previously)
An index of posts explaining quantum mechanics and the many-worlds interpretation.
(the many-worlds interpretations wins outright given the current state of evidence)
(alternate summary:)
An index of posts explaining quantum mechanics and the many-worlds interpretation.
A shortened index into the Quantum Physics Sequence describing only the prerequisite knowledge to understand the statement that "science can rule out a notion of personal identity that depends on your being composed of the same atoms - because modern physics has taken the concept of 'same atom' and thrown it out the window. There are no little billiard balls with individual identities. It's experimentally ruled out." The key post in this sequence is Timeless Identity, in which "Having used physics to completely trash all naive theories of identity, we reassemble a conception of persons and experiences from what is left" but this finale might make little sense without the prior discussion.
(alternate summary:)
(the ontology of quantum mechanics, in which there are no particles with individual identities, rules out theories of personal continuity that invoke "the same atoms" as a concept)
The many worlds of quantum mechanics are not some strange, alien universe into which you have been thrust. They are where you have always lived. Egan's Law: "It all adds up to normality." Then why care about quantum physics at all? Because there's still the question of what adds up to normality, and the answer to this question turns out to be, "Quantum physics." If you're thinking of building any strange philosophies around many-worlds, you probably shouldn't - that's not what it's for.
If the laws of physics control everything we do, then how can our choices be meaningful? Because you are physics. You aren't competing with physics for control of the universe, you are within physics. Anything you control is necessarily controlled by physics.
We throw away "time" but retain causality, and with it, the concepts "control" and "decide". To talk of something as having been "always determined" is mixing up a timeless and a timeful conclusion, with paradoxical results. When you take a perspective outside time, you have to be careful not to let your old, timeful intuitions run wild in the absence of their subject matter.
(alternate summary:)
(from The Quantum Physics Sequence)
Playing Devil's Advocate is occasionally helpful, but much less so than it appears. Ultimately, you should only be able to create plausible arguments for things that are actually plausible.
(just the science, for students confused by their physics textbooks)
(quantum physics does not make the universe any more mysterious than it was previously)
An index of posts explaining quantum mechanics and the many-worlds interpretation.
(the many-worlds interpretations wins outright given the current state of evidence)
(alternate summary:)
An index of posts explaining quantum mechanics and the many-worlds interpretation.
A shortened index into the Quantum Physics Sequence describing only the prerequisite knowledge to understand the statement that "science can rule out a notion of personal identity that depends on your being composed of the same atoms - because modern physics has taken the concept of 'same atom' and thrown it out the window. There are no little billiard balls with individual identities. It's experimentally ruled out." The key post in this sequence is Timeless Identity, in which "Having used physics to completely trash all naive theories of identity, we reassemble a conception of persons and experiences from what is left" but this finale might make little sense without the prior discussion.
(alternate summary:)
(the ontology of quantum mechanics, in which there are no particles with individual identities, rules out theories of personal continuity that invoke "the same atoms" as a concept)
This page contains summaries of LessWrong posts published in 2008.
Posting on Politics
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