Yeah, I’m on the OBNYC mailing list and the emails were as annoying as korin43 says. It doesn’t really help matters that the day before this bet email was sent out, he sent out another email purporting to answer the question “Why is there something instead of nothing?” using Goedel’s incompleteness theorems. In his defense he acknowledged that the argument was probably flawed and thanked people for critiquing it, but it still came across as really crankish.
Also, nobody called him a genius. People said that if someone accepted the “bet” he’d be a genius who got a million dollar loan interest-free, but nobody called him a genius.
Steve, I see how this was an offensive way to describe what Zvi wrote. He did use that word but not in the way I implied. All my (secret) criterion required was that he use the word “genius” somehow in his email and point it at me. To be clear: He meant if I won the bet, then I would be a genius.
Further clarification: Zvi put quotes around the word “genius” and meant it ironically. Neither he nor anyone in the rationalist community has ever to my knowledge actually accused me of higher than average intelligence.
Yeah, I’m on the OBNYC mailing list and the emails were as annoying as korin43 says. It doesn’t really help matters that the day before this bet email was sent out, he sent out another email purporting to answer the question “Why is there something instead of nothing?” using Goedel’s incompleteness theorems. In his defense he acknowledged that the argument was probably flawed and thanked people for critiquing it, but it still came across as really crankish.
Also, nobody called him a genius. People said that if someone accepted the “bet” he’d be a genius who got a million dollar loan interest-free, but nobody called him a genius.
Steve, I see how this was an offensive way to describe what Zvi wrote. He did use that word but not in the way I implied. All my (secret) criterion required was that he use the word “genius” somehow in his email and point it at me. To be clear: He meant if I won the bet, then I would be a genius.
Further clarification: Zvi put quotes around the word “genius” and meant it ironically. Neither he nor anyone in the rationalist community has ever to my knowledge actually accused me of higher than average intelligence.