Just wanted to point out that AI Safety (“Friendliness” at the time) was the original impetus for LW. Only, they (esp. EY, early on) kept noticing other topics that were prerequisites for even having a useful conversation about AI, and topics that were prerequisites for those, etc., and that’s how the Sequences came to be. So in that sense, “LW is more and more full of detailed posts about AI that newcomers can’t follow easily” is a sign that everything is going as intended, and yes, it really is important to read a lot of the prerequisite background material if you want to participate in that part of the discussion.
On the other hand, if you want a broader participation in the parts of the community that are about individual and collective rationality, that’s still here too! You can read the Sequence Highlights, or the collections of resources listed by CFAR, or everything else in the Library. And if there’s something you want to ask or discuss, make a post about it, and you’ll most likely get some good engagement, or at least people directing you to other places to investigate or discuss it. There are also lots of other forums and blogs and substacks with current or historical ties to LW that are more specialized, now that the community is big enough to support that. The diaspora/fragmentation will continue for many of the same reasons we no longer have Natural Philosophers.
I was naive during the period in which I made this particular post. I’m happy with the direction LW is going in, having experienced more of the AI world, and read many more posts. Thank you for your input regardless.
Just wanted to point out that AI Safety (“Friendliness” at the time) was the original impetus for LW. Only, they (esp. EY, early on) kept noticing other topics that were prerequisites for even having a useful conversation about AI, and topics that were prerequisites for those, etc., and that’s how the Sequences came to be. So in that sense, “LW is more and more full of detailed posts about AI that newcomers can’t follow easily” is a sign that everything is going as intended, and yes, it really is important to read a lot of the prerequisite background material if you want to participate in that part of the discussion.
On the other hand, if you want a broader participation in the parts of the community that are about individual and collective rationality, that’s still here too! You can read the Sequence Highlights, or the collections of resources listed by CFAR, or everything else in the Library. And if there’s something you want to ask or discuss, make a post about it, and you’ll most likely get some good engagement, or at least people directing you to other places to investigate or discuss it. There are also lots of other forums and blogs and substacks with current or historical ties to LW that are more specialized, now that the community is big enough to support that. The diaspora/fragmentation will continue for many of the same reasons we no longer have Natural Philosophers.
I was naive during the period in which I made this particular post. I’m happy with the direction LW is going in, having experienced more of the AI world, and read many more posts. Thank you for your input regardless.