Perplexed comments on The Importance of Self-Doubt - Less Wrong

23 Post author: multifoliaterose 19 August 2010 10:47PM

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Comment author: Perplexed 21 August 2010 05:30:53PM *  6 points [-]

Researchers at the SIAI have published these academic papers.

But those don't really qualify as "published academic papers" in the sense that those terms are usually understood in academia. They are instead "research reports" or "technical reports".

The one additional hoop that these high-quality articles should pass through before they earn the status of true academic publications is to actually be published - i.e. accepted by a reputable (paper or online) journal. This hoop exists for a variety of reasons, including the claim that the research has been subjected to at least a modicum of unbiased review, a locus for post-publication critique (at least a journal letters-to-editor column), and a promise of stable curatorship. Plus inclusion in citation indexes and the like.

Perhaps the FHI should sponsor a journal, to serve as a venue and repository for research articles like these.

Comment author: CarlShulman 21 August 2010 05:48:02PM 1 point [-]

Perhaps the FHI should sponsor a journal

There are already relevant niche philosophy journals (Ethics and Information Technology, Minds and Machines, and Philosophy and Technology). Robin Hanson's "Economic Growth Given Machine Intelligence" has been accepted in an AI journal, and there are forecasting journals like Technological Forecasting and Social Change. For more unusual topics, there's the Journal of Evolution and Technology. SIAI folk are working to submit the current crop of papers for publication.

Comment author: Perplexed 21 August 2010 05:53:17PM 1 point [-]

Cool!