Morendil comments on Rationality Quotes September 2012 - Less Wrong

7 Post author: Jayson_Virissimo 03 September 2012 05:18AM

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Comment author: wedrifid 03 September 2012 10:33:55AM *  3 points [-]

Sorry about the pedantry, it's just that as a professional specialist in genies I have a tendency to notice that sort of thing.

Rather than a technical correction you seem just to be substituting a different meaning of 'feedback'. The author would certainly not agree that "You get 0 feedback from 1 wish".

Mind you I am wary of the the fundamental message of the quote. Feedback? One of the most obviously important purposes of getting feedback is to avoid catastrophic failure. Yet catastrophic failures are exactly the kind of thing that will prevent you from using the next wish. So this is "Just Feedback" that can Kill You Off For Real despite the miraculous intervention you have access to.

I'd say "What the genie is really offering is a wish and two chances to change your mind---assuming you happen to be still alive and capable of constructing corrective wishes".

Comment author: Morendil 03 September 2012 11:00:10AM *  4 points [-]

"What the genie is really offering is a wish and two chances to change your mind---assuming you happen to be still alive and capable of constructing corrective wishes".

One well-known folk tale is based on precisely this interpretation. Probably more than one.