Eliezer_Yudkowsky comments on Nonparametric Ethics - Less Wrong

27 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 20 June 2009 11:31AM

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Comment author: SoullessAutomaton 20 June 2009 01:04:40PM 4 points [-]

I tried the same thing at about that age. I seem to recall my attempt involved something deeply silly about minimizing entropy increase (It would have helped if I'd actually understood entropy at that point in a deeper sense than the handwavy "disorder in a system" sense, perhaps). I also made the mistake of assuming that the ideal correct morality would by necessity fall out of pure logic by the power of careful reasoning, and that therefore morality was an inevitable consequence of intelligence.

I grew out of it a couple years later when I realized that I was being a dumbass.

Having it All Figured Out is a common mistake for (14-16)-year olds to make, I guess.

Comment author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 20 June 2009 01:17:13PM 5 points [-]

Having it All Figured Out is a common mistake for (14-16)-year olds to make, I guess.

I agree, but we shouldn't rule out a priori the possibility that someday a 15-year-old really will Figure It All Out.