I got from it that for the Simulation Argument to work, it is important what constants we assume in each clause, in relation to each other. So checking each disjunctive claim separately allows one to do a sorta sleight-of-hand, in which one can borrow some unseen “strength” from the other claims—and there actually isn’t enough margin to be so lax. Is this correct?
OK, I’ve re-read the original papers carefully to check this.
Your criticism of Patch 1 is entirely based on the wording of “For example, in an appendix we show how by assuming that the difference is no greater than a factor of one million we can derive the key tripartite disjunction”.
The wording is indeed misleading and wrong, but to be fair—only in this one sentence. In all other places the authors are consistent in saying that you need the factor to be no greater N/1000000, or an “astronomically large number”, with the understanding that an “astronomically large number” divided by 10^6 is still an “astronomically large number”.
So overall the criticism is sorta uninteresting—I think you are attacking a particularly strawmanned version of the “patch” paper.
I think that was B/K’s point of view as well, although in their review they fell back on the Patch 2 argument. The version of my paper they read didn’t flesh out the problems with the Patch 2 argument.
I respectfully disagree that the criticism is entirely based on the wording of that one sentence. For one thing, if I remember correctly, I counted at least 6 prose locations in the paper about the Patch 1 argument that need to be corrected. Anywhere “significant number of” appears needs to be changed, for example, since “significant number of” can actually mean, depending on the settings of the parameters, “astronomically large number of”. I think presenting the argument without parameters is misleading, and essentially propaganda.
Patch 2 has a similar issue (see Section 2.1), as well as (I think) another, more serious issue (Section 3.1, “Step 3”).
I got from it that for the Simulation Argument to work, it is important what constants we assume in each clause, in relation to each other. So checking each disjunctive claim separately allows one to do a sorta sleight-of-hand, in which one can borrow some unseen “strength” from the other claims—and there actually isn’t enough margin to be so lax. Is this correct?
Ha, actually I agree with your retracted summary.
OK, I’ve re-read the original papers carefully to check this.
Your criticism of Patch 1 is entirely based on the wording of “For example, in an appendix we show how by assuming that the difference is no greater than a factor of one million we can derive the key tripartite disjunction”.
The wording is indeed misleading and wrong, but to be fair—only in this one sentence. In all other places the authors are consistent in saying that you need the factor to be no greater N/1000000, or an “astronomically large number”, with the understanding that an “astronomically large number” divided by 10^6 is still an “astronomically large number”.
So overall the criticism is sorta uninteresting—I think you are attacking a particularly strawmanned version of the “patch” paper.
As for Patch 2, didn’t read yet.
I think that was B/K’s point of view as well, although in their review they fell back on the Patch 2 argument. The version of my paper they read didn’t flesh out the problems with the Patch 2 argument.
I respectfully disagree that the criticism is entirely based on the wording of that one sentence. For one thing, if I remember correctly, I counted at least 6 prose locations in the paper about the Patch 1 argument that need to be corrected. Anywhere “significant number of” appears needs to be changed, for example, since “significant number of” can actually mean, depending on the settings of the parameters, “astronomically large number of”. I think presenting the argument without parameters is misleading, and essentially propaganda.
Patch 2 has a similar issue (see Section 2.1), as well as (I think) another, more serious issue (Section 3.1, “Step 3”).