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Elon Musk AMA

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Re: Elon Musk AMA

#131

Post by graycat »

JeremyMorgan wrote: post #129
lukeqsee wrote: post #25

I found his comment regarding learning to be the most insightful. It is a more developed explanation of what I have found to be an effective strategy for me: > One bit of advice: it is important to view knowledge as sort of a semantic tree -- make sure you understand the fundamental principles, ie the trunk and big branches, before you get into the leaves/details or there is nothing for them to hang on to. Without th…

It seems like common sense, but it's so difficult to do sometimes. I agree completely. When I first started learning Linux for example, I didn't just learn the commands I needed to do certain things, I tackled everything. I spent months and months learning everything I could about it. I bought a giant Linux book and went from cover to cover. I learned about things I would never use (and probably still haven't). I pus…

You may find that, for some popular software technologies now, so far no one has organized the material into a solid tree with a trunk and a few large branches that quickly provide good paths to any of the leaves. Instead you may be looking at a noxious vine or even a patch of jungle with some poisonous plants and reptiles.

Re: Elon Musk AMA

#132

Post by marze »

jonpress wrote: post #68

This guy has everything. Why is it that people feel an urge to praise him right to his face? His ego is going to start leaking out of his eyeballs.

Almost everything. He doesn't have a city on Mars.

Re: Elon Musk AMA

#133

Post by ksk »

lukeqsee wrote: post #25

I found his comment regarding learning to be the most insightful. It is a more developed explanation of what I have found to be an effective strategy for me: > One bit of advice: it is important to view knowledge as sort of a semantic tree -- make sure you understand the fundamental principles, ie the trunk and big branches, before you get into the leaves/details or there is nothing for them to hang on to. Without th…

>when I've had the time to develop that "first principles" knowledge, I can usually grasp and understand the significance of minutiae.

Well, the fact that you've found what works for you is a good thing. However, 'first principles' is subject to subjective interpretation. You can 'go down the rabbit hole' as it were, to any level. Should you have deep knowledge of electronics before learning computer science? Should you have deep knowledge of physics and chemistry before learning electronics?

In my opinion after a certain level, all knowledge is multi-disciplinary, and the boundaries of what constitutes roots, branches, leaves is extremely fuzzy. Also the distinction between theory and practice makes the boundaries even fuzzier.

Re: Elon Musk AMA

#134

Post by function_seven »

trose wrote: post #122
scelerat wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was trying to follow what happened. It appears that prior to the start of the AMA, various subreddits, such as r/teslamotors, collected questions within their subreddit that they wished Musk to answer, then posted them in the AMA and upvoted them. Moderators of /r/AMA see that as "vote brigading" and hid or deleted the questions so that Musk could not answer them. Did I get that right in terms of what happened?

Well the AMA was supposed to be SpaceX only. I'm not surprised that questions about Tesla were deleted or ignored.

That's not how AMAs work, though, right? I thought the whole point of AMA was that questions could address any topic.

Re: Elon Musk AMA

#135

Post by Retric »

simonh wrote: post #58
FooBarWidget wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I still don't buy the doom scenario. There is so much more to world domination than just intelligence... like having the proper weapons. See https://what-if.xkcd.com/5/ Pigs are also intelligent, but they never dominated humans because they don't have / cannot use guns.

That is true, but if we can make an AI even slightly smarter than a human, then it will be better at designing AIs than we are. It then designs an AI even smarter than it, and so on. That is the progresion that leads to the singularity. How smart could AIs go? There may be no practical upper limit. If you have a super-genius AI, massively more intelligent than any human, how do you know you are not being manipulated…

"ed - Don't quite understand the downvotes."

With the full power of humanity you design the first AI which is smarter than a person. It's then able to out do all of humanity and instantly design an even better AI. mind the gap.

Further intelegence is not a linear quantity as trading ex: improved poker skills for insanity is not a net gain. And insanity is a real option which is likely to plage most early AI attempts.

Re: Elon Musk AMA

#136

Post by umbrae »

fubarred wrote: post #36

In the US, up-vote for Challenger Schools (at least circa 1980's). They teach successful behaviors and are worth every penny. (Reaching and accelerating kids early is important.)

Was that mentioned anywhere in the AMA? I can't seem to find a thing on that.

Re: Elon Musk AMA

#137

Post by JeremyMorgan »

graycat wrote: post #131
JeremyMorgan wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems like common sense, but it's so difficult to do sometimes. I agree completely. When I first started learning Linux for example, I didn't just learn the commands I needed to do certain things, I tackled everything. I spent months and months learning everything I could about it. I bought a giant Linux book and went from cover to cover. I learned about things I would never use (and probably still haven't). I pus…

You may find that, for some popular software technologies now, so far no one has organized the material into a solid tree with a trunk and a few large branches that quickly provide good paths to any of the leaves. Instead you may be looking at a noxious vine or even a patch of jungle with some poisonous plants and reptiles.

I have definitely noticed this, which is part of the reason I haven't "dug deep" with them, and instead learn enough of it to get a job done.

Re: Elon Musk AMA

#138

Post by throwawaymars »

lotsofmangos wrote: post #40

I am still reeling from having just learned that in Wernher Von Braun's book 'The Mars Project', it is proposed that the leader of the Martian government when it is formed shall be known as the 'Elon'. https://i.imgur.com/65YR89H.png

The book says no such thing. http://books.google.com.uy/books?id=V16e-xQmyZQC&pg=PR5&sour...

Edit: There appears is a posthumously published book named Project Mars that says that. Not sure if I trust it.

Re: Elon Musk AMA

#139

Post by eco »

jessriedel wrote: post #43
sillysaurus3 wrote: post #35

Does anyone know why Musk believes so strongly that robot overlords are a serious threat? I don't understand how wasting any time worrying about AI taking over, Terminator-style, is productive. We're not going to be developing Strong AI any time soon, so it's simply not a problem worth worrying about. And if we do, the Strong AI won't be in any position to "take over." It probably won't even want to take over. That's…

If you're actually interested in understanding the arguments for worrying about AI safety, consider reading "Superintelligence" by Bostrom. http://www.amazon.com/Superintelligence-Dangers-Strategies-N... It's the closest approximation to a consensus statement / catalog of arguments by folks who take this position (although of course there is a whole spectrum of opinions). It also appears to be the book that convinced…

I recently listened to a pretty good Econtalk with Bostrom about this subject.

http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2014/12/nick_bostrom_on.htm...

Re: Elon Musk AMA

#140

Post by [deleted] »

lotsofmangos wrote: post #40

I am still reeling from having just learned that in Wernher Von Braun's book 'The Mars Project', it is proposed that the leader of the Martian government when it is formed shall be known as the 'Elon'. https://i.imgur.com/65YR89H.png

[deleted]
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