Rationality: From AI to Zombies is a nice name, but unfortunately, the “from A… to Z...” aspect sometimes does not survive translation. Specifically, in Slovak, the translation of “artificial intelligence” does not start with “A”. (At least the “zombies” part is okay.)
Are there other words that could be used instead of “AI” in this context? (Please check in the Google Translate link whether they start with “A” after translation.) Thanks!
Other names we considered included “Rationality: From A to Z” (note there are 26 sequences in the book, lettered from A to Z), “From Atoms (atómy) to Zombies”, “From Algorithms (algoritmy) to Zombies.” It sounds like “automatov” below would work better, but I don’t speak Slovak so I can’t comment on these options connotations/associations.
“Algorithms” feels more related to the Sequences, but may not be the strategic choice. I don’t expect non-math/CS types to go “yay, a book about algorithms!”.
I am more concerned about the lack of specific algorithms in the book. If I remember correctly, there is no pseudocode anywhere. It’s just metaphorically that the whole book is about human thinking algorithms, etc. But using the word “algorithm” in the title feels like a false promise.
EDIT: Okay, the hive mind has spoken, and I accept the “algorithms”. Thanks to everyone who voted!
I never thought of that, but that’s a great question. We have similar problem in Croatian language as AI would be translated ‘Umjetna Inteligencija’ (UI). I think we can also use the suggested title “From Algorithms to Zombies” once someone decides to make Croatian/Serbian/Bosnian translation
An automaton seems too similar to a zombie to give the “diverse mix of things” impression a “from A to Z” title should give off. I’d think the book was about mindlessness, and presumably how rational people can avoid behaving like the mindless automata and zombies that make up the common rabble, which isn’t exactly how I would characterise the sequences, even if EY does sometimes talk about being a PC instead of an NPC.
Funny how I too was thinking about translating that book, to a language used in the same broader region. I think I will end up making a proposal to EY that it would rather be making a derivative work with his permission than a direct translation.
For example, I don’t want to use the term “rational”, due to its Straw Vulcan connotations. I would rather use terms that could be roughly translated back as “according to reason” or “reasonable”. I think my audience would consider AI and Zombies far too geeky, so I would title that book “living according to reason” or “making reasonable decisions”. I would also rip out the examples taken from science and rather use the more everday-life examples gleaned from the threads on LW.
I too would recommend you to not try a direct translation. It would not go down well. Write a simplified and culturally more compatible book with different terminology. Avoid using the the word rational.
I mean, if I would tell a peasant look this is not a rational way to go about planning your agriculture he would tell me to fuck off you intellectual city snob. If I would rather say the equivalent of this is not a reasonable or sensible or clever way, he would be more likely to listen.
Rationality (the term) carries too much “Enlightenmentist” connotations in this region, it feels like enlightened absolutism, from King Joe II to the Soviets. Part of the issue being rationality has always been a foreign import in this region and it rubs people’s pride the wrong way. However, people like the idea of being “shrewd”, outsmarting others, or solving problems the clever way, finding backdoors, cheat codes, low hanging fruits, you just need to present it as something a vulpine, “pfiffig”, street-smart shepherd kid would do (like in The Simple Truth), rather than something a high-brow academic would do which feels too foreign and too haughty in this region. People here tend to associate the term “rational” with Marcos Sophisticus from the The Simple Truth essay.
If you try a direct translation, you will be trying to essentially jump over multiple levels of development / progress. That book was more or less written for the Silicon Valley. Even before that book, those people were already different—smarter? geekier? - than people we are used to. So I think it is better to write a more accessible version of it.
I just want to add the recent changes (which include the change of the title; that’s why I am asking here)… and then perhaps convert it to TeX if I get some help with producing the same layout as the original. Then MIRI could sell it along with the original.
(And of course a German translation would be more useful, but I am not qualified to do one.)
Rationality: From AI to Zombies is a nice name, but unfortunately, the “from A… to Z...” aspect sometimes does not survive translation. Specifically, in Slovak, the translation of “artificial intelligence” does not start with “A”. (At least the “zombies” part is okay.)
Are there other words that could be used instead of “AI” in this context? (Please check in the Google Translate link whether they start with “A” after translation.) Thanks!
“Od automatov po zombie” ?
Not an ideal variant, but I am afraid there are not many possibilities here…
If automatov means a combination of “automation” and “machine” as its etymology and translation seem to indicate, that would be a very good choice.
Other names we considered included “Rationality: From A to Z” (note there are 26 sequences in the book, lettered from A to Z), “From Atoms (atómy) to Zombies”, “From Algorithms (algoritmy) to Zombies.” It sounds like “automatov” below would work better, but I don’t speak Slovak so I can’t comment on these options connotations/associations.
Thanks. So the good choices seem to be “atoms”, “automatons”, and “algorithms”.
What is your opinion, LessWrong hive mind? Which one of these three words feels most related to the Sequences?
[pollid:842]
“Algorithms” feels more related to the Sequences, but may not be the strategic choice. I don’t expect non-math/CS types to go “yay, a book about algorithms!”.
I am more concerned about the lack of specific algorithms in the book. If I remember correctly, there is no pseudocode anywhere. It’s just metaphorically that the whole book is about human thinking algorithms, etc. But using the word “algorithm” in the title feels like a false promise.
EDIT: Okay, the hive mind has spoken, and I accept the “algorithms”. Thanks to everyone who voted!
I never thought of that, but that’s a great question. We have similar problem in Croatian language as AI would be translated ‘Umjetna Inteligencija’ (UI). I think we can also use the suggested title “From Algorithms to Zombies” once someone decides to make Croatian/Serbian/Bosnian translation
An automaton seems too similar to a zombie to give the “diverse mix of things” impression a “from A to Z” title should give off. I’d think the book was about mindlessness, and presumably how rational people can avoid behaving like the mindless automata and zombies that make up the common rabble, which isn’t exactly how I would characterise the sequences, even if EY does sometimes talk about being a PC instead of an NPC.
Funny how I too was thinking about translating that book, to a language used in the same broader region. I think I will end up making a proposal to EY that it would rather be making a derivative work with his permission than a direct translation.
For example, I don’t want to use the term “rational”, due to its Straw Vulcan connotations. I would rather use terms that could be roughly translated back as “according to reason” or “reasonable”. I think my audience would consider AI and Zombies far too geeky, so I would title that book “living according to reason” or “making reasonable decisions”. I would also rip out the examples taken from science and rather use the more everday-life examples gleaned from the threads on LW.
I too would recommend you to not try a direct translation. It would not go down well. Write a simplified and culturally more compatible book with different terminology. Avoid using the the word rational.
I mean, if I would tell a peasant look this is not a rational way to go about planning your agriculture he would tell me to fuck off you intellectual city snob. If I would rather say the equivalent of this is not a reasonable or sensible or clever way, he would be more likely to listen.
Rationality (the term) carries too much “Enlightenmentist” connotations in this region, it feels like enlightened absolutism, from King Joe II to the Soviets. Part of the issue being rationality has always been a foreign import in this region and it rubs people’s pride the wrong way. However, people like the idea of being “shrewd”, outsmarting others, or solving problems the clever way, finding backdoors, cheat codes, low hanging fruits, you just need to present it as something a vulpine, “pfiffig”, street-smart shepherd kid would do (like in The Simple Truth), rather than something a high-brow academic would do which feels too foreign and too haughty in this region. People here tend to associate the term “rational” with Marcos Sophisticus from the The Simple Truth essay.
If you try a direct translation, you will be trying to essentially jump over multiple levels of development / progress. That book was more or less written for the Silicon Valley. Even before that book, those people were already different—smarter? geekier? - than people we are used to. So I think it is better to write a more accessible version of it.
Thanks, but the book is already translated. :D
I just want to add the recent changes (which include the change of the title; that’s why I am asking here)… and then perhaps convert it to TeX if I get some help with producing the same layout as the original. Then MIRI could sell it along with the original.
(And of course a German translation would be more useful, but I am not qualified to do one.)