Dec 4, 2023
[Remember, I haven’t independently verified each link. On average, commenters will end up spotting evidence that around two or three of the links in each links post are wrong or misleading. I correct these as I see them, and will highlight important corrections later, but I can’t guarantee I will have caught...
Dec 4, 2023
"Lots of alcoholics want to quit in principle, but only some join AA"
Followup to: In Continued Defense Of Effective Altruism
Freddie deBoer says effective altruism is “a shell game”:
Who could argue with that! But this summary also invites perhaps the most powerful critique: who could argue with that? That is...
Dec 1, 2023
"All you do is cause boardroom drama, and maybe some other things I’m forgetting..."
I.
Search “effective altruism” on social media right now, and it’s pretty grim.
Socialists think we’re sociopathic Randroid money-obsessed Silicon Valley hypercapitalists.
But Silicon Valley thinks we’re all...
Dec 1, 2023
Inside every AI is a bigger AI, trying to get out
You’ve probably heard AI is a “black box”. No one knows how it works. Researchers simulate a weird type of pseudo-neural-tissue, “reward” it a little every time it becomes a little more like the AI they want, and eventually it becomes the AI they want. But...
Nov 23, 2023
The phrase “I see Satan fall like lightning” comes from Luke 10:18. I’d previously encountered it on insane right-wing conspiracy theory websites. You can rephrase it as “I see Satan descend to earth in the form of lightning.” But “lightning” in Hebrew is barak. So the Bible says Satan will descend...