tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post6843668644430536526..comments2023-11-22T01:14:54.298-08:00Comments on amor mundi: How Many Robot Cultists Does It Take to Freep a Technodevelopmental Policy Poll?Dale Carricohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02811055279887722298noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-6630765228151325852007-06-18T08:20:00.000-07:002007-06-18T08:20:00.000-07:00> For a bright guy you really do sometimes act awf...> For a bright guy you really do sometimes act awfully dim.<BR/><BR/>Awfully **selectively** dim, too, as the "rationality"-gurus<BR/>of Overcoming Bias might point out -- though not to<BR/>wee Michael, of course.<BR/><BR/>> You transhumanists really are a trip.<BR/><BR/>The wicked son asks “What mean you by this service?"<BR/>By the word "you," it is clear he doth not include himself,<BR/>and thus hath withdrawn himself from the community.<BR/><BR/>;->jimfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04975754342950063440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-50966537334310282492007-06-17T20:34:00.000-07:002007-06-17T20:34:00.000-07:00Find the place where I claim "self-replicating fac...Find the place where I claim "self-replicating factories are impossible, or... hundreds of years in the future." You can't, because I don't. You must assume that these views are entailed by the fact that I haven't succumbed to your own brand of techno-transcendentalizing hype-nosis. You transhumanists really are a trip. There's a whole lot of reality here between your facile technophilia and the know-nothing technophobia you ascribe to me. For a bright guy you really do sometimes act awfully dim.Dale Carricohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02811055279887722298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-57112113197371085492007-06-17T18:36:00.000-07:002007-06-17T18:36:00.000-07:00>As Oscar Wilde would say, "I'm not >young enough ...>As Oscar Wilde would say, "I'm not >young enough to know everything."<BR/><BR/>No, just that you get bored by technical nerdy works, and interested by more Humanities-oriented works. I know many people like this, you're just another one. <BR/><BR/>Even still, I'm surprised that you think self-replicating factories are impossible, or at least, presumably hundreds of years in the future.<BR/><BR/>By the way, that ageist prejudiced response of yours is just as despicable as the social prejudice you (justifiably) rail against.Michael Anissimovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06217926458888484768noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-80275098925413844152007-06-14T15:31:00.000-07:002007-06-14T15:31:00.000-07:00Come to think, I also made an additional $10 contr...Come to think, I also made an additional $10 contribution<BR/>to SIAI in October, 2004. They had posted a desperate<BR/>appeal on the SL4 list for last-minute donations to<BR/>meet the target to engage a matching grant. I<BR/>suppose that was just a bit mean of me.jimfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04975754342950063440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-38056027271706668962007-06-14T13:24:00.000-07:002007-06-14T13:24:00.000-07:00No one got the joke.You'll be pleased to know I ju...<I>No one got the joke.</I><BR/><BR/>You'll be pleased to know I just chuckled in a subdued, somewhat mordant fashion.Dale Carricohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02811055279887722298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-29692352592538385052007-06-14T13:14:00.000-07:002007-06-14T13:14:00.000-07:00Back in 2003, I seem to recall reading Michael cla...Back in 2003, I seem to recall reading Michael claiming that making even a $20 donation to SIAI could have no greater positive impact on the future of Humanity. <BR/><BR/>So I did. <BR/><BR/>No one got the joke. <BR/><BR/>I've sent the same amounts to the Universal Life Church (for the generic minister cert they offer) and the Church of the SubGenius.Nato Welchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16522541104301335526noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-52949087820091624522007-06-13T21:45:00.000-07:002007-06-13T21:45:00.000-07:00As Oscar Wilde would say, "I'm not young enough to...As Oscar Wilde would say, "I'm not young enough to know everything."Dale Carricohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02811055279887722298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-65753286073911768452007-06-13T20:43:00.000-07:002007-06-13T20:43:00.000-07:00My day to day routine actually has very little to ...My day to day routine actually has very little to do with so-called superlative tech discourses. For instance, I helped establish the <A HREF="https://lifeboat.com/ex/a-prize" REL="nofollow">A-Prize</A> concerning the development of synthetic life, I regularly participate on the CRN <A HREF="http://www.crnano.org/CTF.htm" REL="nofollow">task force</A>, began blogging for the mainstream nanotech outfit <A HREF="nanotechbuzz.com" REL="nofollow">NanotechBuzz</A>, write articles for the Q&A site <A HREF="http://www.wisegeek.com" REL="nofollow">Wisegeek.com</A>, and correspond with a number of students and academics on down-to-earth topics in science and technology. I am socially adept enough that I can enter a room and talk like a normal smart guy, with no one being the wiser that I want to live for millions of years. The only reason you even know about my "superlative self" is because you've criticized transhumanism enough that I've felt compelled to respond.<BR/><BR/>For the public at large, the "superlative discourse" part just gets a little more attention because it's more controversial, and more unique.<BR/><BR/>I think a major part of why you consider advanced technologies like molecular nanotechnology to be hyperbole is because you come from a Humanities background, and haven't looked at the scientific or technological arguments in their favor. A factory that can output its own mass in atomically specified product in a few hours is a really big deal. A factory like that could duplicate itself very quickly, and impact the world in a huge way. Who needs singularitarianism? MNT is amazing enough.<BR/><BR/>The downside is that you're probably so busy that you don't have the time to read such books.Michael Anissimovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06217926458888484768noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-41619098735255103982007-06-13T19:30:00.000-07:002007-06-13T19:30:00.000-07:00I agree that it is good to look ahead. I disagree...I agree that it is good to look ahead. I disagree that it is good to confuse hyperbole with priority.<BR/><BR/>As for contributors to SIAI, everybody makes mistakes.<BR/><BR/>Be assured, Michael, if/when you ever come to disdain your current enthusiasm for superlative tech discourses like singularitarianism and technological immortalism, I will not be the one to hold your youthful indiscetions against you.Dale Carricohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02811055279887722298noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-59668128304702014692007-06-13T15:48:00.000-07:002007-06-13T15:48:00.000-07:00> Note that James F. is an even bigger SIAI advoca...> Note that James F. is an even bigger SIAI advocate<BR/>> than I am, if you go by the numbers. He's donated over<BR/>> $5,000 to SIAI.<BR/><BR/>Since you brung it up (as John Travolta reminds the paint<BR/>store customer in _Saturday Night Fever_ following his<BR/>outraged question "You wanna know what color my wife's<BR/>ass is?"): $10,000, in fact, all told, between April 2001 and<BR/>February 2003. I don't ever recall asking to be publicly<BR/>listed, but what the hey.<BR/><BR/>Yes, perhaps that makes me an even bigger avocado than you are.jimfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04975754342950063440noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-40219035707087270042007-06-13T15:15:00.000-07:002007-06-13T15:15:00.000-07:00PS. Note that James F. is an even bigger SIAI adv...PS. Note that James F. is an even bigger SIAI advocate than I am, if you go by the numbers. He's donated over $5,000 to SIAI. See here:<BR/><BR/>http://www.singinst.org/donornetworkMichael Anissimovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06217926458888484768noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-19503483942864046762007-06-13T14:48:00.000-07:002007-06-13T14:48:00.000-07:00Nothing wrong with looking a bit further ahead, al...Nothing wrong with looking a bit further ahead, although near to mid-term future issues involving computer networks concern me as well.<BR/><BR/>If we avoided looking ahead to real AI, should we also avoid looking ahead to nanofactories, for instance, when "nanotechnology" is already all around us today? Why should we look ahead to "cyborgs" when it seems like mobile wearables are the near-to-mid term centerpiece of concern?<BR/><BR/>The issue is not so much entitative AI, as smarter-than-human AI in general. Even if it takes 100 years to accomplish, the associated challenges are worth looking at, in the context of other possible future milestones.Michael Anissimovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06217926458888484768noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-8665603621867791642007-06-13T11:01:00.000-07:002007-06-13T11:01:00.000-07:00> . . .the uselessly hyperbolizing monster movie i...> . . .the uselessly hyperbolizing monster movie iconography<BR/>> of entitative AI. . .<BR/><BR/>BTW, in case anybody hasn't heard, the movie _Colossus:<BR/>The Forbin Project_ (the original is from 1969) is being remade:<BR/>http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=19966<BR/><BR/>However, as a friend commented to me:<BR/><BR/>"Of course, since this remake is also going to be based<BR/>on subsequent novels [_The Fall of Colossus_, _Colossus<BR/>and the Crab_], and since we live in an age where "bigger is better"<BR/>(not necessarily...) I'm sure the remake will be longer<BR/>and noisier, and will pay more attention to the special<BR/>effects than to the mature and clever tension and ironies<BR/>that made the original a good film."<BR/><BR/>So it goes.jimfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04975754342950063440noreply@blogger.com