Nisan comments on Cult impressions of Less Wrong/Singularity Institute - Less Wrong

29 Post author: John_Maxwell_IV 15 March 2012 12:41AM

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Comment author: John_Maxwell_IV 15 March 2012 01:14:04AM 13 points [-]

Speaking for myself, I know of at least four people who know of Less Wrong/SI but are not enthusiasts, possibly due to atmosphere issues.

An acquaintance of mine attends Less Wrong meetups and describes most of his friends as being Less Wrongers, but doesn't read Less Wrong and privately holds reservations about the entire singularity thing, saying that we can't hope to say much about the future more than 10 years in advance. He told me that one of his coworkers is also skeptical of the singularity.

A math student/coder I met at an entrepreneurship event told me Less Wrong had good ideas but was "too pretentious".

I was interviewing for an internship once, and the interviewer and I realized we had a mutual acquaintance who was a Less Wronger and SI donor. He asked me if I was part of that entire group, and I said yes. His attitude was a bit derisive.

Comment author: Nisan 15 March 2012 07:29:27PM *  2 points [-]

A math student/coder I met at an entrepreneurship event told me Less Wrong had good ideas but was "too pretentious".

This person might have been in the same place as a math grad student I know. They read a little Less Wrong and were turned off. Then they attended a LW-style rationality seminar and responded positively, because it was more "compassionate". What they mean is this: A typical epistemology post on Less Wrong might sound something like

There are laws of probability; you can't just make up beliefs.

(That's not a quote.) Whereas the seminar sounded more like

We'll always have uncertainty, and we'll never be perfectly calibrated, but we can aspire to be better-calibrated.

Similarly, an instrumental-rationality post here might sound like

To the extent you fail to maximize some utility function, you can be Dutch-booked. Give me a penny to switch between these two gambles; give me another penny to switch back again. There: You have given me your two cents on the matter.

Whereas the seminar sounds more like

You must decide alone.
But you are not alone.

Of course, both approaches are good and necessary, and you can find both on Less Wrong.

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