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"I accidentally changed my mind."
my four-year-old
This is something I actually struggle with a lot. I read something that strikes me as profound, and that I agree with, but as soon as I try to explain it it's all gone, and I'm left with bits and pieces that don't make much sense to anyone else.
I'm not sure if this is a failure on my part to understand, simplify an idea, or explain it.
I had a similar problem when I read Feynman's QED. His explanation felt so simple and easy to understand when I read it, but when I tried to explain it to someone else I couldn't make it make sense.
In response to
Rationality Quotes: February 2010
A black cat crossing your path signifies that the animal is going somewhere.
-- Groucho Marx
It's bad luck to be superstitious.
Only a much wealthier, more technologically advanced society would unfreeze corpses. Less technologically advanced societies couldn't do it, and poorer societies wouldn't bother.
Over time, wealth eventually causes the cultural changes we call "moral progress".
Almost all bad scenarios lead to cryopreserved people never being revived. They either become "gray goo", are eaten by roving bands of cannibals, are converted into paperclips, etc.
So anyway, I think in most scenarios reanimation will be better than death.
Over time, wealth eventually causes the cultural changes we call "moral progress".
This seems a non-sequitur to me. There are a number of examples where wealth and moral progress are found together, but there are also examples where they are not. China and oil-rich Arab states come to mind.
In response to
A Nightmare for Eliezer
This raises an interesting question: If you received a contact of this sort, how would you make sure it wasn't a hoax? Assuming the AI in question is roughly human-level, what could it do to convince you?
In response to
Rationality Quotes: October 2009
"I can't see it, so you must be wrong."
my four-year-old
In response to
Rationality Quotes: October 2009
"My interest is in the future because I am going to spend the rest of my life there."
Charles F. Kettering
"Greetings, my friend. We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives."
The Amazing Criswell
In response to
The Finale of the Ultimate Meta Mega Crossover
Just to verify... The man in the bloodstained sweater, that was the "Ultimate Battle of Ultimate Destiny" version of Mr. Rogers?
Anyways, cool story. :)
Incidentally, my favorite cameo in the all-cameo cast of dozens.
In response to
Quantum Russian Roulette
With a similar technique you can solve any NP-Complete problem. Actually, you can solve much harder problems. For instance, you can minimize any function you have enough computing power to compute. You could apply this, for instance, to genetic algorithms, and arrive at the globally fittest solution. You could likewise solve for the "best" AI given some restraints, such as: find the best program less than 10000 characters long that performs best on a Turing test.
If mangled worlds is correct (and I understand it correctly), then sufficiently improbable events fail to happen at all. What kind of limit would this place on the problems you can solve with "quantum suicide voodoo"?
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There are loads of times I would like to be able to fall asleep, but can't. I envy your power.
I guess this is another reason for people to give meditation a try.
I find a meditation-like focus on my breathing and heartbeat to be a very effective way to fall asleep when my thoughts are keeping me awake.