Separate from the specific claims, it seems really unhelpful to say something like this in such a deliberately confusing, tongue-in-cheek way. It’s surely unhelpful strategically to be so unclear, and it also just seems mean-spirited to blur the lines between sarcasm and sincerity in such a bleak and also extremely confident write-up, given that lots of readers regard you as an authority and take your thoughts on this subject seriously.
I’ve heard from three people who have lost the better part of a day or more trying to mentally disengage from this ~shitpost. Whatever you were aiming for, it’s hard for me to imagine how this hasn’t missed the mark.
If it helps, I tried to clarify what the post is and isn’t serious about here (and Eliezer endorses my comment).
I think the title of the post was a mistake, because the post is basically just serious, and priming people to expect an April Fool’s thing was too confusing. Adding in a little April Fool’s afterthought-joke at the end bothers me less, though with hindsight I think the specific joke-line “it’s a preview of what might be needful to say later, if matters really do get that desperate” was a mistake, because it sounds too plausible.
(I complained about the title before the post went live. :P Though I told Eliezer I’d rather see him post this with the bad title than not post at all.)
I can imagine how this might be considered a “~shitpost” but I thought it was clear and obvious and not confusing.
But I also don’t think that has that much to do with “people who have lost the better part of a day or more trying to mentally disengage from this”. I just read this post, wasn’t confused, but I still expect this to ‘ruin’ my day.
Separate from the specific claims, it seems really unhelpful to say something like this in such a deliberately confusing, tongue-in-cheek way. It’s surely unhelpful strategically to be so unclear, and it also just seems mean-spirited to blur the lines between sarcasm and sincerity in such a bleak and also extremely confident write-up, given that lots of readers regard you as an authority and take your thoughts on this subject seriously.
I’ve heard from three people who have lost the better part of a day or more trying to mentally disengage from this ~shitpost. Whatever you were aiming for, it’s hard for me to imagine how this hasn’t missed the mark.
If it helps, I tried to clarify what the post is and isn’t serious about here (and Eliezer endorses my comment).
I think the title of the post was a mistake, because the post is basically just serious, and priming people to expect an April Fool’s thing was too confusing. Adding in a little April Fool’s afterthought-joke at the end bothers me less, though with hindsight I think the specific joke-line “it’s a preview of what might be needful to say later, if matters really do get that desperate” was a mistake, because it sounds too plausible.
(I complained about the title before the post went live. :P Though I told Eliezer I’d rather see him post this with the bad title than not post at all.)
I can imagine how this might be considered a “~shitpost” but I thought it was clear and obvious and not confusing.
But I also don’t think that has that much to do with “people who have lost the better part of a day or more trying to mentally disengage from this”. I just read this post, wasn’t confused, but I still expect this to ‘ruin’ my day.