Manfred comments on [Link] A superintelligent solution to the Fermi paradox - Less Wrong

-1 Post author: Will_Newsome 30 May 2012 08:08PM

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Comment author: Manfred 31 May 2012 01:48:32AM *  7 points [-]

Reading this piece is difficult.

How so?

For me, it was primarily because you had large stretches with low communication per word.

For example:

Though Logos is always involved somehow, today's post will be mostly pneumatological. Wik tells us that pneumatology is "the study of spiritual beings and phenomena, especially the interactions between humans and God." In Christian theology pneumatology is always about the Holy Spirit, but here at Computational Theology we're not quite that pigeonholed, so we'll discuss the interactions between humans and all spiritual beings, who may or may not be God. ('Cuz after all, how could you tell? We'll discuss that problem—the problem of discernment—in future posts. Expect some algorithmic information theory.) And if you accept Crowley's rule—to interpret every phenomenon as a particular dealing of God with your soul—then all phenomena are subject to pneumatology anyway.

Compare with

This post will be primarily about the interaction between humans and spirits, e.g. gods or invisibly-acting AIs.

Comment author: Will_Newsome 31 May 2012 02:30:07AM *  2 points [-]

Also, I have to keep in mind that many people have complained that my writing is much too compressed, relying too much on hidden or external concepts or inferences. Hopefully I can strike a balance between inscrutable esotericity and points that belabor the point.

Comment author: Will_Newsome 31 May 2012 02:12:50AM *  1 point [-]

Thanks!

Yeah, that's the Adderall talking. I'm planning to write a book (a treatise), where there's more room to expand and explain. But I suppose I should practice my skills on the appropriate medium. So I'll try to cut down on excursions like the above in the future. [ETA: Actually, I won't. There were good reasons to have the quoted part in there.]

Comment author: Will_Newsome 01 June 2012 11:29:45AM 0 points [-]

(Upon further reflection, replied here.)

Comment author: Manfred 01 June 2012 02:43:47PM 0 points [-]

Aw. How about at least treating my impression as evidence, rather than dismissing it.

Comment author: Will_Newsome 01 June 2012 03:14:55PM *  0 points [-]

Of course I'm treating it as evidence. I'm not insane. For me especially, it's not even possible for me to dismiss someone's impression without treating it as evidence.

Comment author: Manfred 01 June 2012 08:49:10PM 0 points [-]

Great :D

Comment author: Will_Newsome 01 June 2012 10:19:38PM 1 point [-]

Mostly. It also causes a lot of stress, due to, e.g., a total inability to disregard negative social judgments. This has been true my whole life, and it's caused me to become a very strange person. That said, I find it entirely worth it, because I think it makes me a better rationalist and a better person, at least in the limit.

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