Morendil comments on Too busy to think about life - Less Wrong

85 Post author: Academian 22 April 2010 03:14PM

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Comment author: wedrifid 24 April 2010 03:11:51AM 8 points [-]

First two things that popped into my head when I read this?

  • Omega isn't going to visit me. No, really, he's not. The 'minds' we discuss are quite often not specific to humans or even concrete entities, much less ourselves.
  • How our minds actually handle excuses is a far narrower and somewhat different topic than how we like to discuss excuses. Investigations on, say, trends in 'forgiveness' behaviours among a selected population would never reach such a mammoth karma rating. It got to 88 (as of now) because it had a few practical implications but a whole bunch of simple game theory.

The subject comes up now and again but as communities that go that tinker with and learn about their own minds this one is neither particularly dedicated nor all that far ahead of the curve. (I would actually be rather embarrassed if that was our claim to fame!) We just aren't specialised in that area. It is one of many subjects of exploration, and not the first among them.

Comment author: Morendil 24 April 2010 09:34:52AM 8 points [-]

In fairness the grandparent was a semi-random thought that occurred to me on reading the OP. It's entirely possible I was projecting what I'd like LW to be about rather than accurately characterizing what it is about.

The 'minds' we discuss are quite often not specific to humans

Yep. That feels quite compatible with a hobbyist outlook though. I own one, you own one, we can compare the models we have and their specs, but it's also fun to speculate about what other models are out there, including the one that are out of practical reach, and even about what models could exist.

Investigations on, say, trends in 'forgiveness' behaviours among a selected population would never reach such a mammoth karma rating.

That seems again compatible with a hobbyist outlook: we're more interested in vignettes, field reports, even sheer bragging than we are in dry "scientific" investigation of our favorite plaything.

this one is neither particularly dedicated nor all that far ahead of the curve

Now you've made me really curious, which other communities did you have in mind? I'd appreciate pointers.

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