MinibearRex comments on Rationality Quotes December 2011 - Less Wrong

4 Post author: Jayson_Virissimo 02 December 2011 06:01AM

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Comment author: MinibearRex 01 December 2011 05:19:09AM 10 points [-]

The story of computers and artificial intelligence (known as AI) resembles that of flight in air and space. Until recently people dismissed both ideas as impossible - commonly meaning that they couldn't see how to do them, or would be upset if they could.

-Eric Drexler, Engines of Creation

Comment author: [deleted] 16 December 2011 06:12:02PM 9 points [-]

A witty saying proves nothing. --Voltaire

This is just reinforcing what people (on LessWrong) already think about non-narrow AI; you could just as easily have someone say that:

The story of computers and artificial intelligence (known as AI) resembles that of alchemy and the search for the philosopher's stone. There have been some resultant areas of research, such as chemistry deriving from alchemy, but the original focus (the philosopher's stone) will never be reached.

I remember reading on LessWrong (though I can't find the link now) about how if folk wisdom/sayings can be reversed and applied to the situation, it means that neither is capable of giving real insight to the problem.

Comment author: MinibearRex 17 December 2011 01:09:41AM 1 point [-]

I thought seriously about whether or not to post it, for that reason. And I myself have commented a few times in the past on quotes that espoused libertarianism, or transhumanism, or singularitarianism, but didn't have some sort of rationality message. While I do in fact think that AI is possible in the way Drexler wrote, the part I was actually thinking about was the definition of impossible. I actually tried to come up with a way of "censoring" the quote, while still leaving the passage readable, but I didn't see a way to do it.

Which of course doesn't mean that it's impossible ;)

PS. Upvoted

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