A question I’ve been mulling over, and this is as good a place to ask it as any, is what to do with songs that are sort of epistemically dicey, but, well, great.
I’ll be the first to admit that Singularity is a better song than Five Thousand Years. (there were major logistical/AV problems with Five Thousand Years this year which I think made it especially bad as a peak end. Historically in NYC it’s been well reviewed (in the top 3rd), but not at the level
This year, “Singularity” came with an epistemic content note of “here is a song about a future that is oddly specific and probably false”, which set the right tone for the song (which is a bit silly). It made for great fun. Locally, it probably would have been a better thing to end on.
But, well, it’s pretty awkward for an event framed around rationality to always end on such a song. And it’s legitimately hard to write better ones that fit the same niche. I think it’s particularly important for the final song to look to the deep future.
Similarly: “The Circle” was a new song about the expanding circle of concern. It was the 6th favorite song (just shy of making mingyuan’s top 5 list). I think it’s also the highest rated “opening song” (I struggled for years figuring out what songs to open Solstice with, and more generally what songs to do early in the setlist. “Circle” has a few important qualities that makes it a good opener)
My concern with it is that, while the expanding circle of concern is pretty important to me, it’s fairly philosophically opinionated in a way that I’m not sure is “future proof.” I wouldn’t be that surprised if in 20 years I found myself disagreeing with it’s frame in some way.
My concern with it is that, while the expanding circle of concern is pretty important to me, it’s fairly philosophically opinionated in a way that I’m not sure is “future proof.” I wouldn’t be that surprised if in 20 years I found myself disagreeing with it’s frame in some way.
I think there are already reasons to disagree with its frame, as described in this gwern post.
I think the lyrics around that section actually say “5 billion years” and say it a bunch of times in a row (implying multiple intervals of billions of years passing), such that I think that line is basically accurate.
Edit: Apparently Ben meant the line as a compliment, not as an epistemic critique. Oops.
A question I’ve been mulling over, and this is as good a place to ask it as any, is what to do with songs that are sort of epistemically dicey, but, well, great.
I’ll be the first to admit that Singularity is a better song than Five Thousand Years. (there were major logistical/AV problems with Five Thousand Years this year which I think made it especially bad as a peak end. Historically in NYC it’s been well reviewed (in the top 3rd), but not at the level
This year, “Singularity” came with an epistemic content note of “here is a song about a future that is oddly specific and probably false”, which set the right tone for the song (which is a bit silly). It made for great fun. Locally, it probably would have been a better thing to end on.
But, well, it’s pretty awkward for an event framed around rationality to always end on such a song. And it’s legitimately hard to write better ones that fit the same niche. I think it’s particularly important for the final song to look to the deep future.
Similarly: “The Circle” was a new song about the expanding circle of concern. It was the 6th favorite song (just shy of making mingyuan’s top 5 list). I think it’s also the highest rated “opening song” (I struggled for years figuring out what songs to open Solstice with, and more generally what songs to do early in the setlist. “Circle” has a few important qualities that makes it a good opener)
My concern with it is that, while the expanding circle of concern is pretty important to me, it’s fairly philosophically opinionated in a way that I’m not sure is “future proof.” I wouldn’t be that surprised if in 20 years I found myself disagreeing with it’s frame in some way.
I think there are already reasons to disagree with its frame, as described in this gwern post.
I agree it’s more fun musically speaking, but the line about entropy in Five Thousand Years gets me every time.
I think the lyrics around that section actually say “5 billion years” and say it a bunch of times in a row (implying multiple intervals of billions of years passing), such that I think that line is basically accurate.
Edit: Apparently Ben meant the line as a compliment, not as an epistemic critique. Oops.