Thanks for the recommendation - those always make me happy. :)

Fanfiction Thread

policy-makers and research funders will begin to respond to the AGI safety challenge, just like they began to respond to... synbio developments in the 2010s.

What are we referring to here? As in, what synbio developments and how did they respond to it?

I'm going to need some more examples, this sounds like it could be something but I'm not seeing how I could actually apply the concept to a situation.

Television and Movies Thread

I thought this was a wonderful post. Funny, made a bunch of lw-relevant points, and was informative in a summatory way on a particular topic. The story wasn't that great, but I guess the post as a whole worked, so maybe I'm not giving it enough credit as an important set-up piece.

It's a shame, but none of the extended strategies appeal to me very much, including for many reasons other than how dubiously viable they sounded. Then again, I'm not yet signed up for cryonics either, so that suggests I'm not as into revival strategies so much as a whole. I did take issue with the suggestion that people signed up for cryonics don't pursue other life extension strategies, but since the topic seems centred on revival-based strats then if we assume that particular comment is made in that context, then I think it's still a somewhat valid point. In any case, the people trying to meet "actuarial escape velocities" and the like would balk at the initial formulation's suggestion. There are plenty of people trying plenty of different things in the attempt to live forever, and cryonics is often but one of many of the cards in their hand.

This isn't a question, just a recommendation: I recommend everyone on this site who wants to talk about AI familiarize themselves with AI and machine learning literature, or at least the very basics. And not just stuff that comes out of MIRI. It makes me sad to say that, despite this site's roots, there are a lot of misconceptions in this regard.

My understanding is that if your probability estimate is higher than the one given, you're supposed to downvote.

Wandering Son (Hōrō Musuko)

Personal reasons: the story's relevant to my own and in a genre I don't normally pay much attention to, which might be why it stands out over other possible candidates (e.g. Puella Magi Madoka☆Magica). Also, by choosing an artsy show that tackles a serious dramatic subject, full of tragedy (and qbrfa'g erfbyir rirelguvat arngyl at the end), I sound more intellectual.

Psuedo-objective reasons: I feel it accurately captures the feelings of childhood and growing up. I particularly liked the portrayal of the sibling relationship, where you hate each other on a level that's superficial but no less genuine for that, but will stand by each other when you discover things the other really cares about. The conclusion also felt very true-to-life. I liked the visual style; the character designs are much more realistic than the animé norm (and for viewers who find it hard to tell them apart, serve as a demonstration of the valid reasons for the animé norm), and the whole setting and story feels like something you could do in live action. But at the same time this would be completely impossible to produce in live action, for a different reason than normal (child actors and ethical issues), so it shows off the ability of animé to do what other media can't. The slightly washed-out, watercolour visual style is distinctive, even among animé - but it's like that for a reason, the uncertain, blurry visuals aligning perfectly with the emotions this series is trying to convey. Likewise the light, childish-sounding soundtrack is distinctive - but it's not just style for the sake of style, it fits with the show as a whole.

Practical notes: I prefer the 11-episode (rather than 12-episode) release. I've avoided describing the premise because it's an episode 1 spoiler; if you think you'd like the show from this description I recommend watching it (or at least watching episode 1) rather than seeking out more information.

Instead of having children as a pseudo-solution to aging and death, wouldn't it make a lot more sense to work on solving those problems much more directly via research or earning-to-give to organizations doing research? From this perspective, having children is actually explicitly wasteful due to this clear opportunity cost of valuable time, money and effort, not to mention also very defeatist.