Comment author: jacob_cannell 16 July 2015 08:46:20PM 6 points [-]

Assume that intelligence doesn't always imply consciousness

Taboo 'consciousness', and attempt to make that assumption still work.

So they decide to use their advanced technology to render their civilizations invisible for human scientists.

The feasibility of this idea is inversely proportional to the resource expenditure required to remain invisible. It is more likely that - if aliens exist - that they are naturally mostly-invisible as a result of computational optimization into compact cold dark arcilects. If stealth/invisibility plays a role, they are more likely to be hiding from other powerful civs rather than us.

Comment author: Locaha 17 July 2015 07:01:07AM 1 point [-]

Taboo 'consciousness', and attempt to make that assumption still work.

Taboo 'intelligence' as well.

In response to comment by Viliam on Crazy Ideas Thread
Comment author: DefectiveAlgorithm 09 July 2015 09:56:31PM *  1 point [-]

Trigger warning: memetic hazard.

Abj guvax nobhg jung guvf zrnaf sbe nalbar jub unf rire qvrq (be rire jvyy).

I'm not too concerned, but primarily because I still have a lot of uncertainty as to how to approach that sort of question. My mind still spits out some rather nasty answers.

EDIT: I just realized that you were probably intentionally implying exactly what I just said, which makes this comment rather redundant.

Comment author: Locaha 10 July 2015 05:57:28PM *  0 points [-]

I assume that inside the simulation spaces of Cthulhu, you are going to be on some level aware of all the deaths that you have already experienced, and the ones that await you. Otherwise you are clearly not suffering enough. :-)

In response to Crazy Ideas Thread
Comment author: James_Miller 08 July 2015 06:10:34AM 36 points [-]

To any future super-intelligence reading this after my death: I very much want to be brought back to life.

Comment author: Locaha 08 July 2015 07:27:29PM 5 points [-]

"There is life eternal within the eater of souls. Nobody is ever forgotten or allowed to rest in peace. They populate the simulation spaces of its mind, exploring all the possible alternative endings to their life. There is a fate worse than death, you know.''

Comment author: Romashka 08 March 2015 10:38:51AM 0 points [-]

Why, it made the second part grow into its full potential. Consider Hodja finding his own greatest belief. I always regretted there are only two books:)

Comment author: Locaha 08 March 2015 11:09:50AM 0 points [-]

Do you have a link to the translation? In amazon maybe?

Comment author: Romashka 07 March 2015 04:26:17PM 2 points [-]

The tale of Hodja Nasreddin by Leonid Solovyov, translated into English and available on Amazon. Based on folk tales. A story about a man who falls in love, saves people from being sold into slavery, rehabilitates the Thief of Baghdad and never ever surrenders, no matter the odds.

And he said he'd live forever.

And there's a Beast called Cat in it.

Comment author: Locaha 08 March 2015 10:24:07AM *  0 points [-]

I second this one, I read the original, it is great.

The first book was written before author's 8 years bout in GULAG, and the second after. How this influenced the difference between the books is left as an exercise for the reader. :-)

Comment author: robertzk 07 March 2015 06:12:05AM *  0 points [-]

However, UFFire does not uncontrollably exponentially reproduce or improve its functioning. Certainly a conflagration on a planet covered entirely by dry forest would be an unmitigatable problem rather quickly.

In fact, in such a scenario, we should dedicate a huge amount of resources to prevent it and never use fire until we have proved it will not turn "unfriendly".

Comment author: Locaha 08 March 2015 10:00:17AM -2 points [-]

However, UFFire does not uncontrollably exponentially reproduce or improve its functioning. Certainly a conflagration on a planet covered entirely by dry forest would be an unmitigatable problem rather quickly.

Do you realize this is a totally hypothetical scenario?

Comment author: Yvain 22 November 2014 02:39:54AM *  51 points [-]

At this point I think the winning move is rolling with it and selling little plush basilisks as a MIRI fundraiser. It's our involuntary mascot, and we might as well 'reclaim' it in the social justice sense.

Then every time someone brings up "Less Wrong is terrified of the basilisk" we can just be like "Yes! Yes we are! Would you like to buy a plush one?" and everyone will appreciate our ability to laugh at ourselves, and they'll go back to whatever they were doing.

Comment author: Locaha 22 November 2014 11:03:27AM -1 points [-]

We can save money by re-coloring the plush Cthulhu. It's basically the same, right? :-)

Comment author: Azathoth123 21 November 2014 09:07:38AM 4 points [-]

It might be useful to feature a page containing what we, you know, actually think about the basilisk idea.

I'm guessing Eliezer has one of those, probably locked away behind a triply-locked vault in the basement of MIRI.

Comment author: Locaha 21 November 2014 08:48:58PM 3 points [-]

I'm guessing Eliezer has one of those, probably locked away behind a triply-locked vault in the basement of MIRI.

See, it's comments like these that are one of the reasons people think LW is a cult.

Does MIRI actually has a basement?

Comment author: Locaha 21 November 2014 08:39:18PM 1 point [-]

As long as some people keep mysteriously hinting that there is something in the Basilisk idea that is dangerous, there will be other people who are going to mock it in all the corners of the internet.

Comment author: ChristianKl 04 September 2014 03:05:39PM *  4 points [-]

If you want a book I personally liked Thomas Hanna's Somatics Reawakening The Mind's Control Of Movement, Flexibility, And Health. It can be found as a PDF on the internet.

The books starts by explaining why you should care about somatics.

He might exaggerate some things but I think that no matter what you do in terms of the factors of aging that Aubrey de Grey describes, if you don't address the somatic factors you won't make it to 300 years of age even if you do gene therapy.

At the end the book describes exercises that you can do at home before going to sleep and after waking up. I'm not sure whether those exercises as described by Hanna are optimal but they do something. There a higher time investment to get into it but after that the regular upkeep is at 5 minutes per day after waking up.

Finding local classes is also good. At the moment I still lack the knowledge to judge the quality of all methods. Doing Feldenkrais with a teacher that has years of experience would be a straightforward route.

Comment author: Locaha 05 September 2014 05:46:40PM 2 points [-]

Somatics

30 seconds of research leads me to believe it's quackery. Should I investigate further?

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