Eliezer_Yudkowsky comments on The Hero With A Thousand Chances - Less Wrong

62 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 31 July 2009 04:25AM

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Comment author: Tiiba 31 July 2009 06:22:19AM *  1 point [-]

Am I right in my understanding that the Dust doen't actually evolve? That the old tricks don't work simply because the Counter-Force decides to use something else that day?

And what is the Dust?

Oh, A++ will read again.

Comment author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 31 July 2009 06:31:33AM 4 points [-]

I'm not sure what the Dust is, but it is learning. I named it after the scariest thing imaginable. I had in mind something as alien as natural selection, but not actually working that particular way, and with the singleminded focus of a paperclip maximizer.

Comment author: DonGeddis 31 July 2009 08:48:27PM 4 points [-]

"Dust" has been used in SF for nanotech before. And especially runaway nanotech, that is trying to disassemble everything, like a doomsday war weapon that got out of control. I recalled the paperclip maximizer too. Oh, and the Polity/Cormac SF books by Neal Asher, with Jain nodes (made by super AIs) that seem to have roughly the same objective.