tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post3788780534769440133..comments2023-11-22T01:14:54.298-08:00Comments on amor mundi: Robot Cultism... Now With Rawlsian SprinklesDale Carricohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02811055279887722298noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956838.post-65724349055967113582012-02-15T14:07:17.985-08:002012-02-15T14:07:17.985-08:00> You know, I went for months not writing about...> You know, I went for months not writing about futurology here,<br />> even though the topic remains this blog's principal draw.<br />> It's all so ridiculous and so, well, robotically repetitious<br />> and predictable that it gets a little demoralizing tossing my<br />> darts at it over and over.<br /><br />Some morale-builders 4U. ;-><br /><br />http://www.poe-news.com/forums/sp.php?pi=1001663980<br />----------------------------<br />There won't ever be a singularity. Ever.<br />Xiphias 02/21/08, 15:14<br /><br />There's only two kinds of people who believe in the possibility<br />of a singularity: people completely removed from the scientific realm,<br />and lunatics.<br /><br />The people in the first category, I can sympathize with. You're out<br />there and you're only real exposure to this world is Scientific American,<br />Popular Mechanics, and the odd news article. There's basically only<br />two kinds of articles in any of these publications: "Amazing New Something<br />To Change Everything" and "What If This Theory".<br /><br />The thing about the pop-science magazines is that they know their audience.<br />They know you care about this stuff because it inspires a sense of wonder<br />in you. That's their entire product: a sense of wonder. . .<br />[Y]ou give them a few nice metaphors, make them marvel<br />at how strange the universe is, and that's all you can really do.<br />And that's fine.<br /><br />But the problem is that this paints a very rosy picture. The magazines<br />and articles are trying to make you feel good, and the scientists behind<br />the articles are spinning it as best they can to get more funding. . .<br /><br />And then the lunatics come along. They're the ones who have a very personal<br />investment in the whole idea of mankind's self-salvation. Maybe they're<br />just terrified of death, maybe they have god complexes, maybe they're just<br />clinically optimistic. Who knows.<br /><br />So they churn out starry-eyed books and editorials and seminars about the<br />rights of disembodied consciousnesses and they start selling prepaid<br />legal services for your severed frozen head and the next thing you know<br />we have an entire Singularity subculture. They grab clueless kids,<br />basement dorks, would-be cultists who want all the koolaid of Jonestown<br />but none of the Religion...<br /><br />I think about all the fat kids eating this shit up - "Don't worry, one day<br />we'll replace your asthmatic saggy-tittied walking corpse with a<br />shiny metal body made out of intelligent polymers" when what they really<br />need to be hearing is "kid if you play outside you'll find out the<br />world is pretty cool, and you'll lose weight in the process."<br /><br />There's going to be a generation of obese shut-ins who, at 53, two heart<br />attacks past their first and one left to go, are still waiting for the<br />machines to come down from Olympus and save their diabetic asses.<br />It's such a horrible thing to tell people.<br />----------------------------<br /><br />http://www.poe-news.com/forums/sp.php?pi=1002436149<br />----------------------------<br />Yudkowsky posts regularly on another forum I read.<br />Baldr 12/17/10, 23:39<br /><br />It has an upvote/downvote system which makes it susceptible to<br />retarded cults of personality like the one surrounding Yudkowsky.<br />Mostly he just posts links to his narcissistic essays on<br />Less Wrong, but occasionally he deigns to drop some wisdom. . .<br /><br />His thoughts on physical health problems. . .<br /><br />> What's a problem you'd like to see solved?<br />><br />> Safe liposuction. (Going to be a few self-righteous<br />> "just eat less and exercise" replies to this one by metabolically<br />> advantaged folks who haven't got the slightest clue how difficult<br />> it can be to lose weight when your body doesn't want to cooperate.)<br />----------------------------<br /><br />See also:<br /> <br />Absolutely Fabulous - Fat - Part 1/3<br />http://www.tagtele.com/videos/voir/63667<br />Absolutely Fabulous - Fat - Part 2/3<br />http://www.tagtele.com/videos/voir/63666<br />Absolutely Fabulous - Fat - Part 3/3<br />http://www.tagtele.com/videos/voir/63664<br /><br />;->jimfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04975754342950063440noreply@blogger.com