Leonhart

Karma: 1,287

Leonhart Jun 28, 2015, 10:00 AM
0 points
in reply to: Kisil’s comment on: Meetup : LW London regular meetup
Apologies for no response; I vaguely assumed I would get a notification if anyone commented. I think we’ll start in the Shakespeare’s Head as it’s a bit cloudy. There will be a sign up. Otherwise, climb the nerd gradient until you find us; we’re usually in the back third past the bar.

Leonhart Jun 23, 2015, 9:40 PM
2 points
in reply to: Shmi’s comment on: Open Thread, Jun. 15 - Jun. 21, 2015
If you intend to try again in the current open thread, feel free to transfer the examples.

Trying to clarify my intuitions re. B:

Consider Paul Atreides undergoing the gom jabbar; he will die unless he keeps his hand in the box. Given that he knows this, I count his success as a freely willed action; if (counterfactually) the pain had been sufficient to overcome him, withdrawing his hand would not have been freely willed, because it is counter to his consciously endorsed values (and, in this case, not subtle or confused values).

However, if (also counterfactually) the threat of death had not been present or known to him, then withdrawing his hand may have been a freely willed act (if the pain built slowly enough to be noticed rather than just triggering a burn-reaction).

Leonhart Jun 23, 2015, 6:07 PM
2 points
in reply to: Shmi’s comment on: Open Thread, Jun. 15 - Jun. 21, 2015
Pretty sure I’m misparsing you somehow, but here are some things I might consider nonfree action :

A) an action is rewarded with a heroin fix; the actor is in withdrawal

B) an action will relieve extreme and urgent pain

C) an action is demanded by reflex (e.g. withdrawal from heat)

D) an action is demanded by an irresistably salient emotional appeal that the agent does not reflectively endorse (release the country-slaying neurotoxin, or I shall shoot your child)

Leonhart Jun 22, 2015, 7:53 PM
0 points
in reply to: Shmi’s comment on: Open Thread, Jun. 15 - Jun. 21, 2015
Are you asking for a procedure for identifying acts of free will (the doable kind of extensive definition) or a set of in-out exemplars (ostensive definition)?

Leonhart Apr 20, 2015, 8:08 PM
0 points
in reply to: Manfred’s comment on: Why isn’t the following decision theory optimal?
Confused. What’s incoherent about caring equally about copies of myself, and less about everyone else?

Leonhart Apr 5, 2015, 8:32 PM
1 point
in reply to: ArisKatsaris’s comment on: April 2015 Media Thread
I’ve just finished marathoning the first 1.5 seasons (to the current cliffhanger/hiatus) of Gravity Falls, and strongly recommend it. Supernatural mystery/horror/comedy, significantly darker than Disney usually gets. High levels of continuity; very strong art direction; near-HPMOR levels of foreshadowing/conservation of detail (I advise not reading about it beforehand as there was a similar hivemind-predictive-success of the biggest twist). Secret codes, cryptic Reddit AMAs, trolling creators with hand puppets, all the good stuff.

Leonhart Mar 11, 2015, 9:59 PM
0 points
in reply to: DanielLC’s comment on: Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality discussion thread, March 2015, chapter 119
Don’t follow. You see “making an actually binding promise” as equivalent to dying?

Leonhart Mar 10, 2015, 9:39 PM
2 points
in reply to: Unknowns’s comment on: Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality discussion thread, March 2015, chapter 118
This seems odd to me, though I’m not saying you’re wrong. From the inside, my values seem far more akin to habits or reflexes than to time-indexed memories.

I imagine Obliviated!me still having a NO DON’T reaction when asked to support a purpose opposed to my previous goals, because verbalised goals flow from wordless moral habits; not the other way around. (assuming a possibly inconsistent scenario where I retain enough language for someone to expect to manipulate me)

Leonhart Mar 10, 2015, 9:33 PM
1 point
in reply to: NancyLebovitz’s comment on: Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality discussion thread, March 2015, chapter 118
Quite a bit. I have a very bad memory for personal history anyway—I have a vague timeline of significant dates in my head, and a handful of random “vivid” memories, maybe one per year, that have been nailed down by neural happenstance. But if you asked me what I was doing yesterday evening, I think I would end up randomly selecting an evening from the last three or so—unless I painstakingly solved it in the manner of a logic puzzle (“I go to the gym on Wednesdays, and yesterday was Thursday, so I guess I was at the gym”).

Leonhart Mar 5, 2015, 10:08 PM
1 point
in reply to: Baughn’s comment on: March 2015 Media Thread
Rathanel’s The Empty Cage (previously recommended on LW) and OmgImPwned’s In Fire Forged. Can’t remember if the first is finished, the second certainly isn’t.

Waves Arisen is in a class by itself as regards sweet sweet ingroup jargon, however :)

Leonhart Mar 4, 2015, 11:08 PM
1 point
in reply to: ArisKatsaris’s comment on: March 2015 Media Thread
Every rational!Naruto fic I encounter keeps topping the preceding ones—I suspect my head will implode if I ever attempt to read the canon story at this point.

The best one yet is The Waves Arisen. Everyone is very sensible, shadow cloning is more broken than ever, and patiently listening to giant slugs pays off in the end.

Leonhart Mar 4, 2015, 10:49 PM
1 point
in reply to: gjm’s comment on: Scarcity Is the Presence of Choice
Disagree; you’re prematurely optimising. LW is full of dully worthy explanatory articles using the blueprint you describe; an attempt to communicate technical concepts by redundant array of overlapping metaphors is novel and fun even if it doesn’t end up working well.

(Sure, it’s summoned a few bizarre commenting entities, but never mind!)

Leonhart Mar 3, 2015, 9:28 AM
0 points
in reply to: [deleted]’s comment on: Imagining Scarcity
I have high confidence, based on style, that I have read work you have published elsewhere; but on the default assumption that you don’t want that context connected to this, I’ll say no more.

Leonhart Mar 3, 2015, 12:54 AM
1 point
on: Imagining Scarcity
Splendid. As inexplicably haunting as the rest of your work. Looking forward to more.

Leonhart Mar 1, 2015, 8:20 PM
4 points
in reply to: JoshuaZ’s comment on: Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality discussion thread, February 2015, chapter 113
I just tried to (using the form at the bottom of the hpmor.com chapter) and it appeared to accept it, but I can’t see it showing up on the FF.net reviews page. Is this the wrong way to do it? Is there a significant lag time?

EDIT: Never mind, there it is!

Leonhart Mar 1, 2015, 12:52 PM
45 points
on: Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality discussion thread, February 2015, chapter 113
Here is my best attempt at a delaying tactic, after sleeping on it. Please tear apart/suggest better ways in which LV might tear apart, to replace the poor placeholder responses he has here.

--

“Agree that I musst die, if it ssavess world. But thiss iss not besst way to kill me. Ssee how you can benefit more, given your goalss.”

“Explain.”

“Believe power you know not doess refer to power to desstroy life-eaterss. Life-eaterss will find you eventually, teacher. Know you. Will hunt you down, ssomeday. Eat all of you, all of world and magic, in the end.”

“Sso you will give that magic to me, now.”

“You can never reach needed sstate of mind—incompatible with deadly indifference. Sschoolmasster could never casst—incompatible with acceptance of death. Majority cannot casst, and in the tessting, sstandard defence againsst life-eaterss iss ssacrificed. Will weaken your alliess greatly, should I randomly try to teach.”

“What do you proposse, then?”

“Take me to life-eater prisson. Allow me to pour out my life and magic there, eradicate them wholly. How I wisshed to do sso, during the resscue! You called me back, then.”

″...”

“Many advantagess to you in thiss. Can decimate your final enemy, wipe out their greatesst colony, certainly buy you yearss. Removess them before Wizengamot’ss death throess can releasse them againsst you. Freess your remaining alliess, ass thosse here failed to do. And I am utterly desstroyed—can leave no ghosst behind me. Nothing to fuel ssecret devices of Sschoolmasster’s. Presumably, reduced rissk that your great creation will recognisse my spirit—for I doubt you have tessted that.”

“You will not desstroy all of them, and sso I will have to find another ssolution anyway.”

“Ssolution iss girl-child. Sshe iss closse to learning sspell, and now immortal. My death could drive her to hunt life-eaterss forever; thiss iss not beyond your sskillss at manipulation. You know sshe wantss to be a hero.”

Leonhart Feb 26, 2015, 8:52 PM
4 points
on: The outline of Maletopia
I saw the thread title and assumed “Maletopia” was a Disney AU fanfic about a perfect society run by rational!Maleficent. Disappointed now.

Leonhart Feb 25, 2015, 12:09 AM
1 point
in reply to: Izeinwinter’s comment on: Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality discussion thread, February 2015, chapter 109

The mirror tailors good and sound ambitions for people.

“This mirror can help us get our Cutie Marks!!”

sorry

Leonhart Jan 21, 2015, 11:08 PM
3 points
in reply to: Lumifer’s comment on: Open thread, Jan. 19 - Jan. 25, 2015
I don’t like to frustrate the poor databases’ telos, it is not at fault for the use humans put its data to.

(Yes, I realise this is silly. It’s still an actual weight in the mess I call a morality; just a small one.)

Leonhart Jan 21, 2015, 10:57 PM
2 points
in reply to: Elo’s comment on: Open thread, Jan. 19 - Jan. 25, 2015
I misremembered, you are correct. I was possibly instead frustrated with finding a temporary email that it would accept (they block the most common disposables I think).