Strange7 comments on It's not like anything to be a bat - Less Wrong

15 Post author: Yvain 27 March 2010 02:32PM

You are viewing a comment permalink. View the original post to see all comments and the full post content.

Comments (189)

You are viewing a single comment's thread. Show more comments above.

Comment author: Strange7 14 January 2011 12:42:19PM 0 points [-]

People don't understand the difference between extreme improbability and actual impossibility. "I observe that I exist, therefore some mysterious 'great filter' will soon wipe out all humanity" is as innumerate a mistake as winning $10^6 with your first-ever lottery ticket and then immediately spending the entire sum on more tickets, because (based on that initial evidence) it's got the biggest, fastest ROI.

We have only what we observe, and what we observe is a green world in a mostly empty universe. Perhaps, in gaining that much, we were very, very lucky; perhaps not. Either way, does it change anything? We have only what we observe. Make the most of it.