MugaSofer comments on Counterfactual resiliency test for non-causal models - Less Wrong

21 Post author: Stuart_Armstrong 30 August 2012 05:30PM

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Comment author: MugaSofer 19 September 2012 08:55:06AM 1 point [-]

what is there that could have messed up Moore's law that isn't the equivalent of "rocks fall, everybody dies"?

Aliens show up, give us their awesome technology.

But I take your point.

Comment author: MaoShan 20 September 2012 03:10:38AM 0 points [-]

Unless rocks fell, most people died, then aliens showed up with gifts of hyper-advanced technology at the exact moment that Moore's Law would have predicted that level. That's sort of how the idea that "working to keep up" with Moore's Law strikes me.

Comment author: MugaSofer 20 September 2012 09:47:35AM *  0 points [-]

aliens showed up with gifts of hyper-advanced technology at the exact moment that Moore's Law would have predicted that level

What? No!

My point was that any game-changer, positive or negative, disrupts Moore's law. Alien hypertech is one such game changer.

EDIT: edited for clarity.

Comment author: MaoShan 21 September 2012 02:05:47AM 0 points [-]

I know, I was just playfully nullifying the game-changer. (Although, aliens restoring Moore's law with hypertech is only slightly less likely than aliens with hypertech at any other point in time.)

Comment author: MugaSofer 21 September 2012 12:03:47PM 0 points [-]

Ah, I see.

Wait, what? Aliens restoring Moore's law is vastly less likely than the (admittedly minuscule) probability of them showing up at some other time.

Comment author: MaoShan 22 September 2012 03:39:13AM 0 points [-]

So it's a...vast minisculity?

Comment author: MugaSofer 23 September 2012 10:17:32AM 0 points [-]

Vastly minuscule, yes.