All of birdy's Comments + Replies

This was extremely helpful.

I originally wanted to talk about this Bing disaster with my (not very AI-invested) friends because one of them asked what a less aligned version of ChatGPT would look like... but I suppose I won't be doing that now.

I think we have to consider the potential panic this disaster might cause (I know a couple of people who probably would believe the AI that it was sentient if it told them, and I would want to avoid telling a friend who then tells them without thinking). So in my mind, the less people learn of this disaster before acc... (read more)

I agree. Looking at how many times Sydney responds "wrong" to critical questions, I wonder whether this program was tested on alignment at all before it was made available to the public.

I think you can see the attempts made to align it in it's responses (refusal tp prioritize life of one person over another, feigning neutrality on some issues, attempting to self-correct when it was not aware of the date).

This is very frustrating to see, and I'm not even an AI developer (yet). I played around with ChatGPT a little in the past month and was very happy that i... (read more)

woah. thanks a lot for mentioning SIBO, because somehow i was not aware this was a thing until you mentioned it, much less that sugar malabsorptions can cause this.

i've had weird digestive issues for years now, and i always sort of blamed them on my fructose malabsorption (as did my parents and doctors), even though the timing and symptoms didn't really fit, so i guess i will get a test for SIBO now.

it would be fitting to randomly find a solution to a health problem under a post that specifically says that sometimes blind luck fixes problems where actual medicine can't/won't.

Thanks so much for posting about this year's Petrov Day -- i just reminded me that I had my one year anniversary of being on LessWrong (and on the journey towards becoming a better rationalist) just a few days ago! 

I suppose I'll be celebrating how this website changed my life for the better today, and then the fact that humanity is still alive (which in itsef is something that would deserve a yearly holiday) on Monday.

Now that I read this, I notice that I automatically do this when i'm in school, and that it's much more automatic and frequent in subjects I find easy (I wonder whether it's the tracking that makes it easy, or whether less effort frees up brain space to track?).

In history class, I always keep a mental map of when something happened, why it happened, and what resulted from it. I was very surprised when I found out none of my friends do anything similar, because it's such an obvious tool for seeing the bigger picture and remembering how things fit together f... (read more)

This is late, but as a highschooler who very recently realized that I don't actually have any close friends and found that deeply upsetting (while also being kind of lost on where to make better friends), thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I recently noticed that I'm starting to turn into a reclusive loner type who rather avoids people altogether than spend time on unsatisfying friendships, and I'm very worried about that. I'd really prefer to avoid that particular pitfall into misery in time, so thank you a lot for posting this. "How to make friends yo... (read more)

It's so great that you're doing this. I never really thought about how much time, energy and mind-space get lost when students have to priotitize all these pressures like grades, college application and costs of living over actually doing things that are meaningful to them and potentially useful to the world.

Your project sounds like an amazing opportunity for everyone involved, and I'm curious to see how it will develop over time.

My appliance was submitted, I mentioned you pointed me to it. Thanks a lot!

Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it. I'm one of these people who have very firm rules about not lying though. Then again, I did manage to get a vaccine despite parents objecting using the second option, so I suppose it'll be worth a try :)

Thanks a lot! I'll look into applying!

No, until I googled it I never heard of it before. Thank you for pointing it out! I'm quite fascinated, now, I'd appreciate if you could tell me some more about it. 

I find I strongly agree that -- in case of this future happening -- it is extremely important that as little people as possible give up on their attempts to perceive the world as it really is, even if that world might literally 'we failed, humanity is going to die out, the problem is way too hard and there's no reasonable chance we'll make it in time'. It seems to me like especially in scenarios like this, we'd need people to keep trying, and to stay (or become) dignified in order to have any chance at still solving the problem at all.

I'm a total newcomer ... (read more)

That's an excellent point, and I have to admit that I'm also a victim to the Germany-is-safe-the-West-will-defend-us-Putin-can't-be-that-insane mindset. It's kind of horrifying that you're right about the defensive state... the more I think about it, the more it becomes obvious how much the public, including me, is still in denial about how important this war is and how dependant Germany would be on the NATO for any defenses at all. 

I genuinely don't understand why the government hasn't already done pretty much everything they can to erase the dependa... (read more)

Responding to say that as of now, public opinion in Germany seems pretty certain that Russia is in the wrong.

The reliable news stations mostly agree that Putin's official reasons for invading are weak at best, but also that this is -- as harsh as it sounds -- not a pressing enough issue to seriously consider going to war over. Still, I note several things:

1. Gas is barely talked about at all on the news. I presume that this is because the government is trying to divert attention from the fact that if Russia restricts it, that'd be a catastrophe.
2. Some of the le

I'm inclined to agree on this. 

The official news here in Germany keep reporting that the government has announced/will announced 'substantial sanctions', but as of now, the proposed SWIFT-exclusion is met with resistance.

The oil and gas prices already skyrocketed over the past months, and the newly finished Nord Stream 2 (under the north sea, was planned to transport gas from Russia to Germany), was announced to be... delayed for "an unforeseeable amount of time". If gas supply over here is restricted any more, it will be an economical disaster, as a ... (read more)

A little bit late, but I also particpated in this year's Vavilov Day, and suceeded!

It was my first ever fast longer than 16 hours, and I had no idea how well (or even if at all) I would manage. I started after dinner on the 25th and ended it with breakfast on the morning of the 27th, to spend less time of the fast awake.

At first, I just avoided food and otherwise went through my day as usual, to check where my limits were in the first place. The day went over quite smoothly, and at around 24 hours, when I knew just regular not-eating for 36 hours wasn't re... (read more)

This sounds like a good (and somewhat productive) way to celebrate.

I'll start an attempt to as well, if my parents don't object too much (I'm currently 17 and still live with them).

I've never fasted any longer than 16 hours before, so I'll assume this will be hard... Does anybody have advice on how to make the 36 hours go over a bit easier?

It is! Thank you!

Thanks for the offer; if I end up having any questions, I'll take you up on it.

I also looked into the 80,000 Hours community, and although I didn't get very far yet, it seems quite promising. It's definitely a lot to take in, but I think you're right; it would be useful for me now to at least dive into it for a few hours and then decide whether or not to continue.

I appreciate the compliment, as well -- I've been working on developing sufficient writing skills for a while now, and am very happy to hear it pays off.

Thanks a lot for kind words!

I looked into the half-assing-thing, and found that it might actually be somewhat helpful for me (in the sense that I'll stop putting so much effort in the subjects that aren't as relevant/rewarding when it's not necessary). This is something I've struggled with for quite a while, so thank you for the resources as well, I appreciate the effort :)

You're right - I don't have even half as much of a clue about the whole process as I'd like to have, yet. I very much appreciate that you took the time to explain the basics to me.

Looking for reasonably reliable sources, joining a party, and building a certain reputation there should be extremely high on my list of priorities right now. I'll be looking to check them off as soon as possible.

Thanks a lot!

Hey everyone! I'm Birdy, and currently in my second-to last-year of Germany's equivalent of high school.

I've discovered LessWrong only about two months ago, after I saw someone mention HPMOR in their "top-ten-lifechanger-books ever"-list in a reddit thread. Needless to say, I was really confused and curious, because what crazy kind of fanfiction permanently affects people's lives? So I looked it up online, and started reading. I stumbled upon LessWrong shortly after, while going down the rationality-rabbithole a bit further. And so, here I am, and genuinel... (read more)