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Viliam_Bur comments on Open Problems Related to Solomonoff Induction - Less Wrong
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People are perfectly fine with fuzzy approximate explanations of phenomena, like Maxwell's equations &c. "Goddidit" is not that different. Trying to get a full causal explanation would mean finding bits of Omega. In the end, decision theory is fundamental, and epistemological abstractions like SI are cool but ultimately irrelevant. This whole "encoding a human-like mind" thing doesn't work like you think it does --- you can interpret SI that way and see some cool implications, just remember it's a useless toy model. ...Just sayin'.
Approximate explanations have some predictive power.
What experience do you expect if "Goddidit", as opposed to if "Goddidntdoit"?
(Skeletons of angels versus skeletons of dinosaurs? People with supernatural powers versus people working with superstition? Benevolent universe versus indifferent universe?)
—Twelve Virtues of Rationality
It's just, I'm having an amazing time back home, and my time is limited. I don't know your goals, but you might want to try harder to signal that you're really curious and not just asking questions that you think are rhetorical. When you reference common knowledge 'round these parts, like Eliezer's posts, you should expect that the other person is already aware of that knowledge, and that they have real, substantive reasons to think that what they said is not entirely refuted by the contents of said common knowledge.
Of course, asking rhetorical questions is a perfectly decent way to make an argument. It's just that arguments in that sense aren't quite what's called for in situations like these, I think. But that might just be a difference in our epistemic styles, especially if you're Slavic. (Gasp, racism! ;P )
Good point.
Also good point about time being limited, so...
If you'd someday later feel like writing a LW article about similarities between "Goddidit" and Maxwell's equations, or something like that, I will read it.