khafra comments on Dominus' Razor - Less Wrong

44 Post author: badger 26 May 2011 01:05AM

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

Comments (27)

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

Comment author: wedrifid 26 May 2011 10:55:59AM *  7 points [-]

Ice cream and condoms didn't exist in the ancestral environment; using them as criticism of evolution is like using a screwdriver to pound nails and then blaming it for being a poorly designed hammer.

No, it is precisely the point. I am cleverer than a hammer. Evolution is dumb enough to have gone ahead and created its usurper. Evolution really will go ahead and evolve itself to irrelevance. By the time it figures out that the current state of it's cleverest creations isn't one where they optimise their response to future selective pressures it'll be too late. We'll have solved the relevant cooperation problem or we'll have messed up evolution's existing creations and resources beyond all recognition.

The backward retina may be an interesting case in point here: I've seen an article (years ago, don't remember the link) claiming it makes maintenance easier; an important advantage if so, considering that unlike your cell phone camera, this is a piece of hardware that has to operate without replacement for a timescale on the order of a century. I don't know whether it's a good trade-off on balance, but even if it's not the optimal design, it might still make the retina a relevant example of something that actually makes more sense than it would seem at first glance.

I consider that an example of human cleverness. If there is one thing we are good at it is creating arguments for things that are caused by something completely irrelevant. Take that Urist McHatedRival!

Comment author: khafra 26 May 2011 12:58:13PM 0 points [-]

If creating a better optimizer than yourself makes you dumb, what does that say about people trying to build GAI?

Comment author: wedrifid 26 May 2011 01:18:54PM *  2 points [-]

If creating a better optimizer than yourself makes you dumb, what does that say about people trying to build GAI?

By analogy it would seem to imply that they are dumber than the GAI they are trying to create. I think that's the point of creating it. Now, let's see if we can create one that doesn't obliterate its masters!