I’ve spoken over PM with the person I believe Roko was talking about when he said “one person at SIAI was severely worried by this, to the point of having terrible nightmares”. They say:
I’m the person Roko was referring to in his original post. I saw this thread talking about “nervous breakdowns” and wanted to post a basic clarification to make sure this isn’t because people are reading something into that line that’s more sensational than the reality. There have been times when I was anxious about possibilities in the space of TDT, acausal blackmail, and simulationism, not “the Basilisk” particularly, but that general sort of thing. This happened both when I was a visiting fellow at SIAI in 2009-10 and earlier. None of this amounted to anything I’d consider a “nervous breakdown”. Nobody observing my behavior or internet posting, say, would have noticed much out of the ordinary. These anxieties have faded over time and haven’t been an issue for the last decade or so.
I’ve spoken over PM with the person I believe Roko was talking about when he said “one person at SIAI was severely worried by this, to the point of having terrible nightmares”. They say:
Funny how one person becomes “some” becomes “a seemingly significant portion of the ‘rationality community’”.
(On the other hand, something in my heart rejoices in the thought that in our community, every single person is considered a significant portion.)