LESSWRONG
LW

All of tula's Comments + Replies

Sazen
tula20

Similarly to the general post I just made, is there a significant difference between this definition of hieratic and the general usage of esoteric?

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1rsaarelm
I understand esoteric as something that's often either fundamentally difficult to grasp (ie. an esoteric concept described in a short cryptic text might not be comprehensively explainable with a text five times longer that would be straightforward to write by anyone who understands the subject matter) or intentionally written in a way to keep it obscured from a cursory reading. The definition of hieratic doesn't really connote conceptual difficulty beyond mundane technical complexity or a particular intention to keep things hidden, just that writing can be made much more terse if you assume an audience that is already familiar with what it's talking about.
2Duncan Sabien (Deactivated)
Yes, there is a very very large delta between this and either "hieratic" or "esoteric."
Sazen
tula10

Is sazen significantly different from obfuscating or esoteric ideas? Perhaps out of sheer mental habit, I find myself conflating the concepts.

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2Slider
A motive to keep esoteric ideas on the low can be that misunderstanding them causes damage. So known high-frequency sazen with high impact damage is a reason to zip it about that idea. Obfuscation prevents meaning formation. A dessert where nothing great grows. Sazen is a formation not meant, a garden with all weeds and no flowers.
3Duncan Sabien (Deactivated)
......yes. It is not at all either of those things.
Counterarguments to the basic AI x-risk case
tula10

Speed of intelligence growth is ambiguous

Three months ago, I learned that narcolepsy patients quite literally experience sleep and unconsciousness asynchronously, and synchronization is normally achieved through regulatory cells that produce hypocretin. Hypocretin, like anesthesia, acts on neuron microtubules. This has led me to a greatly increased interest and confidence in theory surrounding neuron microtubules as a processing unit, and I wonder if anyone in the AI community has considered the implications.

If microtubule lattices are storing or calcul... (read more)

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Losing the root for the tree
tula30

The extra little existential dread at the end got me. Excellent mood shift to really push “realign/recall goals now” without making any arbitrary time based axioms. Thanks for the article, and also to the team for getting it curated.

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How I buy things when Lightcone wants them fast
tula*51

I appreciate these concrete strategies! My family has always encouraged us to “just ask, the worst they can say is no” and not feel bound by existing conventions: for rush ordering/shipping, custom orders, venue or property access, flexibility of deadlines, etc. Some examples I’ve had success with:

  • getting customizations to costumes or art pieces- if the product is not advertised as customizable but already being custom made, this can be done pretty easily and sometimes without additional labor or parts. (Customization increases time, but I bet the produc
... (read more)
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Competent Elites
tula10

I am curious if you still feel this way (and about the Level Above Mine) after 14 years. While I agree all the execs I have met have a high level of competence and energy, what they have competence in tends to vary greatly. ie. some are well rounded; fit, great at managing at all levels, charismatic, and able to discern information and value in ideas, business and people with relative ease. On the other hand, I’ve met execs that are incredibly good at a small selection of skills: ie. having energy, working hard, and able to relentlessly fine tune a budget ... (read more)

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