Seems like a stark case of contrast between Bayesianism and the way a frequentist might approach things. I.e. do not reject the null hypothesis of no significant probability until convinced by evidence, either formal arguments or by seeing real-life mishaps. Labeling something as having P(x)~0 probably helps to compartmentalize things, focus to other tasks at hand. But can lead to huge risks being neglected, like in this case of AI Alignment.
Edit: "premortem" seems like a useful exercise to align mind & gut
Seems like a stark case of contrast between Bayesianism and the way a frequentist might approach things. I.e. do not reject the null hypothesis of no significant probability until convinced by evidence, either formal arguments or by seeing real-life mishaps. Labeling something as having P(x)~0 probably helps to compartmentalize things, focus to other tasks at hand. But can lead to huge risks being neglected, like in this case of AI Alignment.
Edit: "premortem" seems like a useful exercise to align mind & gut