Yehuda Yudkowsky, 1985-2004
yudkowsky.net
Yehuda Yudkowsky, 1985-2004
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Re: Yehuda Yudkowsky, 1985-2004
#2Thank you for posting this. We do need to work faster. In the day to day actions of waking, working, and sleeping until the next day we tend to lose sight of the longterm goal. At least I do. I am somewhat reassured my younger sister will live long enough, though I am not sure about my mom. I've had to accept my grandmother won't, as my grandad died in March. This is a good reminder to all of us who think there is an answer.
Re: Yehuda Yudkowsky, 1985-2004
#3So, I agree (strongly) with the statements and feelings in this discussion. I am a transhumanist in the sense that I do also have this burning hope that we will defeat this inhuman universe and repeal death.
How can I get involved in helping with this? Where are the communities? How can I assist (other than donating money)?
Any pointers would be much appreciated.
Re: Yehuda Yudkowsky, 1985-2004
#4So, I agree (strongly) with the statements and feelings in this discussion. I am a transhumanist in the sense that I do also have this burning hope that we will defeat this inhuman universe and repeal death. How can I get involved in helping with this? Where are the communities? How can I assist (other than donating money)? Any pointers would be much appreciated.
> Any pointers
The Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence http://singinst.org is Yudkowsky's organization.
> How can I assist (other than donating money)?
Donating is good. Here is some writing on 'activism.' http://www.acceleratingfuture.com/michael/writings.htm#techs...
There is also the OpenCog http://opencog.org open-source project sponsored by SIAI.
> Where are the communities?
See these email lists: http://www.singinst.org/discussion/
Re: Yehuda Yudkowsky, 1985-2004
#5Lately I have read a lot about the singularity, and I am very confused why people are for this concept. Extending life through brain simulation, nanomachines support, and personality uploads does not sound like you will be still "alive". Does that make me a vitalist? A luddite I am not.
It is easy to debate for hours about the feasibility of singularity. I understand the accelerated returns and all, but I think that much of these stuff and very-near milestones stem very much from wishful thinking by proponents. "Rapture" within lifetime, immortality. I think these are still too far-fetched, and I cannot understand how proponents of singularity swear by this timeline with utmost faith.
BTW, does cryonics work now?? --- Since Yehuda's body was not identified for three days after he died, there was no possible way he could have been cryonically suspended. Others may be luckier. If you've been putting off that talk with your loved ones, do it. Maybe they won't understand, but at least you won't spend forever wondering why you didn't even try.
Re: Yehuda Yudkowsky, 1985-2004
#6This doesn't do anything to dissuade me of the notion that the singularity movement is a religious movement. The comfort of hope in an afterlife and hope in scientific immortality seem quite similar. While research into singularity and anti-aging could be better funded, I'm not sure why we need to 'believe' in these things or make sure we join the correct denominations (transhumanist vs non-transhumanist).
Besides, unless the universe is infinite we're just arguing about timeframes. I prefer not to think about death as annihilation because death doesn't mean that we never existed, we each have our unique portion of space-time.
Re: Yehuda Yudkowsky, 1985-2004
#7This doesn't do anything to dissuade me of the notion that the singularity movement is a religious movement. The comfort of hope in an afterlife and hope in scientific immortality seem quite similar. While research into singularity and anti-aging could be better funded, I'm not sure why we need to 'believe' in these things or make sure we join the correct denominations (transhumanist vs non-transhumanist). Besides, u…
The singularity won't happen: http://www.maximise.dk/blog/2008/11/why-singularity-may-neve...
Re: Yehuda Yudkowsky, 1985-2004
#8Lately I have read a lot about the singularity, and I am very confused why people are for this concept. Extending life through brain simulation, nanomachines support, and personality uploads does not sound like you will be still "alive". Does that make me a vitalist? A luddite I am not. It is easy to debate for hours about the feasibility of singularity. I understand the accelerated returns and all, but I think that…
Yeah, I similarly don't get the fascination with brain simulation. Say someone told me they had an exact simulation of by brain running, and I was convinced beyond a doubt they were right, would I be fine with dying at that point? No.
To paraphrase Samuel Clemens:
"I don't want to gain immortality through brain simulation. I want to gain immortality by not dying."
Re: Yehuda Yudkowsky, 1985-2004
#9This doesn't do anything to dissuade me of the notion that the singularity movement is a religious movement. The comfort of hope in an afterlife and hope in scientific immortality seem quite similar. While research into singularity and anti-aging could be better funded, I'm not sure why we need to 'believe' in these things or make sure we join the correct denominations (transhumanist vs non-transhumanist). Besides, u…
The singularity won't happen: http://www.maximise.dk/blog/2008/11/why-singularity-may-neve...
There are limits to computation, but nothing prevents computers from achieving human or super human level intelligence. I suspect that 50 years from now we will have human level AI for a wide range of things. We have already passed that point for Chess and one by one other things will fall.
What really prevents the singularity is the limits of the physical world. The speed of light is already a problem such that PC ram is never going to drop in latency without moving it closer to the CPU. I don't care how smart you are you can't build a 101% efficient engine etc.
Re: Yehuda Yudkowsky, 1985-2004
#10This doesn't do anything to dissuade me of the notion that the singularity movement is a religious movement. The comfort of hope in an afterlife and hope in scientific immortality seem quite similar. While research into singularity and anti-aging could be better funded, I'm not sure why we need to 'believe' in these things or make sure we join the correct denominations (transhumanist vs non-transhumanist). Besides, u…
And the 2nd law of thermodynamics is another gotcha, as I posted in the other Yudkowsky thread:
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=377510
Someone thought maxwell's demon and the fluctuation theorem provided a way around the 2nd
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxwell%27s_demon
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=110074
but I'm not convinced:
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=377625
"Thanks, those are interesting links. Still, nothing there that seems especially compelling.
Maxwell's demon assumes the energy cost for sorting the molecules is less than the net gain. That looks like another variant of the perpetual motion machine.
The fluctuation theorem says the 2nd law doesn't hold for very, very small entities, but its probability of being correct climbs exponentially as the system scales. So, it is fallacious to then say the 2nd law may not hold at the macro level due to it not holding at the micro level, since the theorem used to support this idea is itself an instance of the idea being false."