Open thread Jan. 5-11, 2015

polymathwannabe

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If it's worth saying, but not worth its own post (even in Discussion), then it goes here.

Notes for future OT posters:

1. Please add the 'open_thread' tag.

2. Check if there is an active Open Thread before posting a new one. (Immediately before; refresh the list-of-threads page before posting.)

3. Open Threads should be posted in Discussion, and not Main.

4. Open Threads should start on Monday, and end on Sunday.

The comic book Magnus Robot Fighter #10, published this month, mentions Roko's Basilisk by name and has an A.I. villain who named himself after Roko's Basilisk. The Basilisk is described as "the proposition that an all-powerful A.I. may retroactively punish those humans who did not actively help its creation... thus inspiring roboticists, subconsciously or unconsciously, toinvent that A.I. as a matter of self-preservation". Which is not quite correct because of the "subconsciously", and doesn't mention simulation (although Magnus grew up in a simulation), but otherwise is roughly the right idea.