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The Open Thread tag is here. The Open Thread sequence is here.
Hi! I am a master student in Computer Science majoring in — yes you guessed it — AI, but also with a background in psychology.
Interests
Cognition
I was always interested in thinking and optimizing my own thought patterns. It's probably half my urge to be 'more intelligent' and half the necessity to overcome my ADHD challenges. Through my studies, I already learned about many of the things taught here or in Eliezers works, but HPMOR and the Sequences still had/have a lot to teach me, or at least help my knowledge affect my actions.
AI
I pursue AI due to my interest in cognition. I would like to know how intelligence and reasoning work, and what heuristics make them better or worse. A proof of understanding, after all, is the ability to recreate it using your beliefs about it.
Ethics
I also have a deep interest in ethics. My current stance is a form of sentientism. In short, I currently believe most (human or non-human) animals have a certain ability to suffer, which is correlated with, but not caused by, intelligence. I want to grant these beings rights for protection from unnecessary harm and the likes. Intelligence just gives you the additional rights; e. g. to pursue a purpose.
What am I doing here
I don't really have a lot of people whom I can discuss my thoughts and Ideas with in real life. Most non-AI people hate the work I am doing or are just disinterested, and many AI people hope for salvation from AGI or riches from their jobs. I just want to understand how thinking works and can be optimized, and I have the feeling there are people here who think like me. Of course, I would also like to learn more strategies for system 2 thinking, and improvmymy heuristics for system 1. I also hope I can contribute to this collection of knowledge at some point! :D