I haven’t read fluffy (I have named it fluffy), but I’d guess it’s an equivalent of a virus in a monoculture: every mode of thought has its blind spots, and so to trick respectable people on LW, you only need an idea that sits in the right blind spots. No need for general properties like “only infectious to stupid people.”
Alicorn throws a bit of a wrench in this, as I don’t think she shares as many blind spots with the others you mention, but it’s still entirely possible. This also explains the apparent resistance of outsiders, without need for Eliezer to be lying when he says he thinks fluffy was wrong.
Could also be that outsiders are resistant because they have blind spots where the idea is infectious, and respectable people on LW are respected because they do not have the blind spots—and so are infected.
I think these two views are actually the same, stated as inverses of each other. The term blind spot is problematic.
I think the term blind spot is accurate, unless (and I doubt it) Eliezer was lying when he later said fluffy was wrong. What fits the bill isn’t a correct scary idea, but merely a scary idea that fits into what the reader already thinks.
Maybe fluffy is a correct scary idea, and your allocation of blind spots (or discouraging of the use of the term) is correct, but secondhand evidence points towards fluffy being incorrect but scary to some people.
Honestly? Doesn’t like to argue about quantum mechanics. That I’ve seen :D Your posts seem to be about noticing where things fit into narratives, or introspection, or things other than esoteric decision theory speculations. If I had to come up with an idea that would trick Eliezer and Vladimir N into thinking it was dangerous, it would probably be barely plausible decision theory with a dash of many worlds.
I haven’t read fluffy (I have named it fluffy), but I’d guess it’s an equivalent of a virus in a monoculture: every mode of thought has its blind spots, and so to trick respectable people on LW, you only need an idea that sits in the right blind spots. No need for general properties like “only infectious to stupid people.”
Alicorn throws a bit of a wrench in this, as I don’t think she shares as many blind spots with the others you mention, but it’s still entirely possible. This also explains the apparent resistance of outsiders, without need for Eliezer to be lying when he says he thinks fluffy was wrong.
Could also be that outsiders are resistant because they have blind spots where the idea is infectious, and respectable people on LW are respected because they do not have the blind spots—and so are infected.
I think these two views are actually the same, stated as inverses of each other. The term blind spot is problematic.
I think the term blind spot is accurate, unless (and I doubt it) Eliezer was lying when he later said fluffy was wrong. What fits the bill isn’t a correct scary idea, but merely a scary idea that fits into what the reader already thinks.
Maybe fluffy is a correct scary idea, and your allocation of blind spots (or discouraging of the use of the term) is correct, but secondhand evidence points towards fluffy being incorrect but scary to some people.
I’m curious about why you think this.
Honestly? Doesn’t like to argue about quantum mechanics. That I’ve seen :D Your posts seem to be about noticing where things fit into narratives, or introspection, or things other than esoteric decision theory speculations. If I had to come up with an idea that would trick Eliezer and Vladimir N into thinking it was dangerous, it would probably be barely plausible decision theory with a dash of many worlds.
I was also surprised by your reaction to the the argument. In my case this was due to the opinions you’ve expressed on normative ethics.
How are my ethical beliefs related?
Answered by PM