In coming  decades, engineers will build an entity with intelligence on a level which can compete with humans. This entity will want to improve its own intelligence, and will be able to do so. The process of improvement will repeat, until it reaches a level far above  that of humans; the entity will then be able to achieve its goals efficiently. It is thus essential that its goals are good for humanity. To guarantee this, it is necessary to define the correct goals before this intelligence is built.

Journalist David McRaney has very recently published a popular book on human rationality. The book, You Are Not So Smart, is currently the 3rd best selling book in Nonfiction/Philosophy on Amazon.com after less than a week on the market. (Eighth best selling book in Nonfiction/Education)

The tag-line of the project is: "A celebration of self-delusion." As such the book seems less an attempt at giving advice on how to act and decide, than an attempt to reveal, chapter by chapter, the folly of common sense.

Topics include: Hindsight Bias, Confirmation bias, The Sunk Cost Fallacy, Anchoring Effect, The Illusion of Transparency, The Just World Fallacy, Representativeness Heuristic, The Perils of Introspection, The Dunning-Kruger Effect, The Monty Hall Problem, The Bystander Effect, Placebo Buttons, Groupthink, Conformity, Social Loafing, Helplessness, Cults, Change Blindness, Self-Fulfilling Prophecies, Self Handicapping, Availability Heuristic, Self-Serving Bias, The Ultimatum Game, Inattentional Blindness.

These are topics we enjoy learning about, pride ourself in knowing a lot about, and, we profess, we would want more people to know about. A popular book on this subject is now out. This sounds like a good thing.

I will note that the blog features at least one direct quote from LessWrong.

We always know what we mean by our words, and so we expect others to know it too.  Reading our own writing, the intended interpretation falls easily into place, guided by our knowledge of what we really meant.  It’s hard to empathise with someone who must interpret blindly, guided only by the words.

- Eliezer Yudowsky from Lesswrong.com

One one hand, You Are Not So Smart could bee a boon to Eliezer's popular rationality book by priming the market. His writings on a given topic have rarely been described as redundant. On the other hand, it seems to me that this book closely covers a number of topics, seemingly in a similar style to the treatments that were published on this site and Overcoming Bias. Intended to be published in book form at a later date. I will try to refrain from speculation here.

Sample blook chapters from YouAreNotSoSmart:

• Procrastination
  
• Misattribution of Arousal
  
• Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy

I'll save the rest of my review until I have actually read the book.

In the meantime I would like to know your thoughts on this project.

The podcast 'Stuff you should know' has done an episode on cryonics.

Available here: 

http://podcasts.howstuffworks.com/hsw/podcasts/sysk/2011-08-30-sysk-cryonics.mp3?_kip_ipx=862998473-1315175433 

I don't know much about the subject, but what do people think of it as a depiction of cryonics in popular culture? 

Briefly Start the week is a popular BBC radio 4 program discussing scientific and cultural events in the UK. This episode covers a lot of issues relevant to Less Wrong.

In their own words: 

"Andrew Marr explores the limits of science and art in this week's Start the Week. The philosopher and neuroscientist Raymond Tallis mounts an all-out assault on those who see neuroscience and evolutionary theory as holding the key to understanding human consciousness and society. While fellow scientist Barbara Sahakian explores the ethical dilemmas which arise when new drugs developed to treat certain conditions are used to enhance performance in the general population. And the gerontologist Aubrey de Grey looks to the future when regenerative medicine prevents the process of aging."

Available for listening here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0122szw

Podcast here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006r9xr

Admittedly this is a more populist approach to the issues then we're used to, and there are a few moments where the guests make statements we would find a bit silly. But it seems to provide a very good summary of the issues for a lay audience, and an excellent defense of the moral importance of life extension. 

Thoughts?