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Randy_M comments on Rationality Quotes May 2013 - Less Wrong
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-- Eric Hoffer
Perhaps, but absolute power tends to be the more relevant one, as it definitionally also includes the means to persue the goals derived from absolute corruption.
I wonder where one could apply "Absolute" and not come up with a scary sounding conclusion. Absolute skepticism seems it would turn one into a gibbering madman. Absolute logic--well what is a dangerous AI but absolute logic plus power?
Absolute non-contradiction? Since anything else (that is, any contradictory statement) is absolutely horrible, if absolute non-contradiction is also horrible then nothing good exists.
edit: s/than nothing/then nothing/
Absolute goodness?
Anything else would be problematic. Making people smile is good. Tiling the universe with microscopic smiley faces is not.
Absolute goodness seems tautalogically good. If you pick any one good trait or action and maximize it it grows ominous again.
That's why I chose it.
Like the smiling example I gave.
Oh, actually I didn't see the connection with the smile-tile and the making people smile statements at first read. Since it isn't quite correct to say making people smile is good, but rather people smiling is typically a sign something good has happened. So a better (albeit common) example might be making people happy is good, wireheading is scary. But any connection to the top level post is growing tenuous.
Absolute knowledge also seems like it'd leave you gibbering... Just think about it: knowledge of everything, that is to say every atom of every single object in the universe.
I can only say Ouch