false_vacuum comments on What is your rationality blind spot? - Less Wrong

11 Post author: shminux 20 December 2011 07:18PM

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Comment author: Technoguyrob 21 December 2011 04:15:47AM *  7 points [-]

I had an existential crisis a few weeks ago that was very helpful. I now fully believe "it's physics all the way down." It's also given me some insights as to how self-awareness arises in physical systems, and made me realize cryonics is trivially workable. I also have an intuitive feel for how humanity is collectively wearing rose-colored glasses, and am very curious what happens when these will get taken off! (In other words, I look forward to the creation of a fully rational agent according to a prescribed utility function.)

This also means I can hardly stand news and movies anymore, because I deconstruct everything. I have no problem maintaining social interactions, but no longer carry any of the standard social obligations. It's a little eerie, like feeling the matrix.

Comment author: false_vacuum 22 December 2011 05:16:45AM 0 points [-]

Mmm. Sounds familiar. But what do you mean by '"physics all the way down"'?

Comment author: Barry_Cotter 23 December 2011 05:15:09PM 0 points [-]

Thou Art Physics or, as a philosophical position, reductionism or materialism.

Comment author: false_vacuum 27 December 2011 12:47:47AM *  0 points [-]

Well, another possibility would have been the negation of (what's usually called around here) Tegmark's Level IV. (That's probably not the only other possibility.)

ETA: Not that your interpretation isn't the obviously correct one.