The response by this individual seems like a summary, rather than an argument. The fact that someone writes a polemical summary of their views on a subject doesn’t tell us much about whether their views are well-reasoned or not. A polemical summary is consistent with being full of hot air, but it’s also consistent with having some damning arguments.
Of course, to know either way, we would have to hear this person’s actual arguments, which we haven’t, in this case.
How are they ignoring the uncertainties when they list them on their webpage and bring them up in every interview?
Just because a certain topic is raised, doesn’t mean that it is discussed correctly.
How is a fiercely atheist group religious at all?
The argument is that their thinking has some similarities to religion. It’s a common rhetorical move to compare any alleged ideology to religion, even if that ideology is secular.
How is it a cult (there are lots of posts about this in the LessWrong archive)?
The fact that EY displays an awareness of cultish dynamics doesn’t necessarily mean that SIAI avoids them. Personally, I buy most of Eliezer’s discussion that “every cause wants to become a cult,” and I don’t like the common practice of labeled movements as “cults.” The net for “cult” is being drawn far too widely.
Yet I wouldn’t say that the use of the word “cult” means that the individual is engaging in bad reasoning. While I think “cult” is generally a misnomer, it’s generally used as short-hand for a group having certain problematic social-psychological qualities (e.g. conformity, obedience to authority). The individual could well be able to back those criticisms up. Who knows.
We would need to hear this individual’s actual arguments to be able to evaluate whether the polemical summary is well-founded.
P.S. I wasn’t the one who downvoted you.
Edit:
high school dropout, who has never written a single computer program
I don’t know the truth of these statements. The second one seems dubious, but it might not be meant to be taken literally (“Hello World” is a program). If Eliezer isn’t a high school dropout, and has written major applications, then the credibility of this writer is lowered.
The response by this individual seems like a summary, rather than an argument. The fact that someone writes a polemical summary of their views on a subject doesn’t tell us much about whether their views are well-reasoned or not. A polemical summary is consistent with being full of hot air, but it’s also consistent with having some damning arguments.
Of course, to know either way, we would have to hear this person’s actual arguments, which we haven’t, in this case.
Just because a certain topic is raised, doesn’t mean that it is discussed correctly.
The argument is that their thinking has some similarities to religion. It’s a common rhetorical move to compare any alleged ideology to religion, even if that ideology is secular.
The fact that EY displays an awareness of cultish dynamics doesn’t necessarily mean that SIAI avoids them. Personally, I buy most of Eliezer’s discussion that “every cause wants to become a cult,” and I don’t like the common practice of labeled movements as “cults.” The net for “cult” is being drawn far too widely.
Yet I wouldn’t say that the use of the word “cult” means that the individual is engaging in bad reasoning. While I think “cult” is generally a misnomer, it’s generally used as short-hand for a group having certain problematic social-psychological qualities (e.g. conformity, obedience to authority). The individual could well be able to back those criticisms up. Who knows.
We would need to hear this individual’s actual arguments to be able to evaluate whether the polemical summary is well-founded.
P.S. I wasn’t the one who downvoted you.
Edit:
I don’t know the truth of these statements. The second one seems dubious, but it might not be meant to be taken literally (“Hello World” is a program). If Eliezer isn’t a high school dropout, and has written major applications, then the credibility of this writer is lowered.