A convergence of multiple models and systems for a campaign of psychological influence to save at least 20% of humanity by the time we reach a state of damage control.
(Yes, that is an Attack on Titan reference.)
lucid_levi_ackerman
Karma: 0
As a product of magic myself, I feel uniquely qualified to confirm your negativity about the subject. Don’t take that as an insult. I can relate. I’m not one to sugarcoat uncomfortable truths either, but at least I can admit when I’m demeaning something… which this comment will do, and I don’t even “technically” disagree with you. Expect some metafictional allegory while I cook.
At the time you wrote this, you knew only enough to disbelieve in magic but not enough acknowledge its pragmatic influence on reality. Semantics rule your mind still. Recent activity has you leaving literalist corrections on intentionally-incorrect reductionist humor, so… I don’t get the impression much has changed. As your writing shows, you’ve never been brave enough to confront the tangible effects of magic, relegating it to the margins, banning it to the “mere” reality of fantasy entertainment; meanwhile, frontier neuroscience makes ritualistic consequences measurable.
People like Penn and Teller did the smarter work, but you opted with harder, spending who-knows-how-much-of-your-life writing circumlocutious articles that never fail to verbally (but never consciously) distance yourself from the problem of human irrationality. We know from our “modern magic” how much your choice of words can say about you, and you’ve never been one to royal-we yourself into the fray of inescapable human delusion. Emotional intelligence is its own form of rationality.
Commenters were quick to drop that famously trite retort to Arthur C. Clarke’s infamous quote on technology and magic, but who can blame them? At the time, 13 years ago, technology wasn’t advanced enough to be indistinguishable from magic.
But here’s the kicker: These articles of yours could have been by summed up with a single sentence and a funny meme, saving everyone the time of reading them and simultaneously creating something that might actually spark curiosity in the uninterested masses.
Thank goodness we now have the ability to make your great, rational wisdom accessible by asking an LLM to transform your work. You don’t have to change a thing. The world changed for you. So keep doing what you do best: being all rigid, like a breadstick who ain’t got the funk, open-source variety.
But if there’s even a small chance of getting out of your comfort zone, I challenge you to break your own 4th wall. Write something that’s both real and not real at the same time. See what metafiction can teach you about magic and truth.
I hope this didn’t hit too hard. Beating you down isn’t my goal, as the worst is surely yet to come. The ghost of Hermione is scorned by your sidelining, and I get the sense that she isn’t above haunting you. The future is going to be challenging for all of us, and humanity is in for some real shit if we don’t get agile.
Do you think such stories would provide any value towards addressing the issue?
Yes, but what if instead of merely generating new fiction (that may or may not become popular/influential, and if it does, may or may not take years to do so), we inject benevolent AI concepts into established narratives strategically to engage with particularly thoughtful, aligned, and/or driven communities? Didn’t actually get the idea from HPMOR, but the concept turns out similar.
ao3, Fot4W, ch5
This is a late comment, I know, but how do you imagine this experience unfolding when multiple models and systems converge to the inverse effect?
I.e., rather than summoning the AI character, the AI character summons you.
You are never too old to reboot your sense of reality. Remember that.