If people had reasoned that way in the 18th century, they would have correctly predicted the risks of nanotech and maybe biotech. So I guess you should conclude that unfriendly AI risk is real, though far in the future... Anyway, how do you tell which concepts are "abstraction porn" and which aren't?
If people had reasoned that way in the 18th century, they would have correctly predicted the risks of nanotech and maybe biotech.
How useful that would have been, though? I don't think you can have a single useful insight about making safe nanotech or biotech from thinking in terms of abstract 'life force'. edit: also one can end up predicting a lot of invalid stuff this way, like zombies...
Anyway, how do you tell which concepts are "abstraction porn" and which aren't?
Concepts that are not built bottom up are usually abstraction porn.
This m...
It's just occurred to me that, giving all the cheerful risk stuff I work with, one of the most optimistic things people could say to me would be:
"You've wasted your life. Nothing of what you've done is relevant or useful."
That would make me very happy. Of course, that only works if it's credible.