My first comment ever. I have been lurking on Less Wrong for several years already (and on Overcoming Bias before there was even a Less Wrong site), and have been mostly cyber-stalking EY ever since I caught wind of his AI-Box exploits.
This year 2012, on a whim, I joined the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) last November, and started writing a novel I had been randomly thinking of making, “Judge on a Boat”. The world is that humanity manages to grow up a little without blowing itself up, rationality techniques are taught regularly (a certain minimum level of knowledge in these techniques is required for all citizens), practical mind simulations and artificial intelligence are still far-off (but being actively worked on, somewhere way, way off in the background of the novel), and experts in morality and ethical systems, called “Judges”, are given the proper respect they deserve.
The premise is that a trainee Judge, Nicole Angel, visiting Earth for her final examinations (she’s from Mars Lagrange Point 1), gets marooned on a lifeboat with a small group of people. She is then forced to act as a full Judge (despite not actually passing the exams yet) for the people in the boat.
The other premise is that a new Judge, Emmanuel Verrens, is reading about Nicole Angel’s adventures in novel form, under the guidance of high-ranking Judge David Adams. Emmanuel’s thinking is remarkably similar to hers, despite her being a fictional character -
The novel was intended to be more about moral philosophy than strictly rationality, but as I was using Less Wrong as an ideas pump, it ended up being more about rationality, really. (^^)v
Anyway, if anyone is interested in the early draft text, see this.
I consider myself an aspiring newbie epistemic rationalist, having been turned on to it by HPMOR, i’ve been studying it for a couple months now and feel I have already greatly benefited from learning even the most basic concepts. I have read “Judge on a Boat” and found it quite as satisfying as HPMOR, and would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for another highly engaging, thought-provoking, rational fiction.
Hello Less Wrong,
My first comment ever. I have been lurking on Less Wrong for several years already (and on Overcoming Bias before there was even a Less Wrong site), and have been mostly cyber-stalking EY ever since I caught wind of his AI-Box exploits.
This year 2012, on a whim, I joined the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) last November, and started writing a novel I had been randomly thinking of making, “Judge on a Boat”. The world is that humanity manages to grow up a little without blowing itself up, rationality techniques are taught regularly (a certain minimum level of knowledge in these techniques is required for all citizens), practical mind simulations and artificial intelligence are still far-off (but being actively worked on, somewhere way, way off in the background of the novel), and experts in morality and ethical systems, called “Judges”, are given the proper respect they deserve.
The premise is that a trainee Judge, Nicole Angel, visiting Earth for her final examinations (she’s from Mars Lagrange Point 1), gets marooned on a lifeboat with a small group of people. She is then forced to act as a full Judge (despite not actually passing the exams yet) for the people in the boat.
The other premise is that a new Judge, Emmanuel Verrens, is reading about Nicole Angel’s adventures in novel form, under the guidance of high-ranking Judge David Adams. Emmanuel’s thinking is remarkably similar to hers, despite her being a fictional character -
The novel was intended to be more about moral philosophy than strictly rationality, but as I was using Less Wrong as an ideas pump, it ended up being more about rationality, really. (^^)v
Anyway, if anyone is interested in the early draft text, see this.
My name is Dave, this is my first post.
I consider myself an aspiring newbie epistemic rationalist, having been turned on to it by HPMOR, i’ve been studying it for a couple months now and feel I have already greatly benefited from learning even the most basic concepts. I have read “Judge on a Boat” and found it quite as satisfying as HPMOR, and would highly recommend it to anyone who is looking for another highly engaging, thought-provoking, rational fiction.