I too am confused.
Philosophistry
Karma: 6
[Question] How do we quantify non-philanthropic contributions from Buffet and Soros?
Abstract Theories of Everything
Now that we know that KCL is the best, should we go directly to them or use an agent?
This is conveniently enough overfunding that your standby fees are automatically waived
I couldn’t find details about this on Alcor’s website. Since your standby fees are part of your membership dues, does this mean that overfunding exempts you from paying dues?
None of this is to say that religions don’t sometimes do bad things
Furthermore, self-improvement has a lot of potential for harm too.
What is filling the hole left by religion?
I don’t think this is that crazy of a request. Many of the other fields of machine learning have robust visualizations that hazard at what the AI is “thinking.” I haven’t seen an equivalent thing for Transformer-based NLPs, but why not?
Philip Dhingra’s Shortform
+1 for “Lesswrongers” or “the LessWrong community”
A name for an emergent community is going to have to also be, well, emergent. But you can nudge that emergence in the direction you choose. I think LessWronger is the next natural candidate. I was introduced to a group once as a “LessWronger” even though today is my first time posting or upvoting anything here despite being an avid SSCer for 3 years. I’ve always been aware of LW, and the label would have been OK for me.
I’m reading De Pony Sum’s excellent list of demands for the protests, but I can’t help but thinking none of these things will ever happen because it’s just “not American.” For example, eliminating cash bonds. You’d think that that exists because of special interests, i.e., private bondsmen, but I think it’s just because of America’s “tough shit” culture.
Which brings me to a bigger point, which as always, for me, is China. It would be nice if Taiwan, Singapore, or Japan became the new leading hegemon, all of which, despite their imperfections, are wonderful countries. But they can’t, because the Asian method for global dominance is through sustaining larger populations than the West. And that award is going to China. The problem is that China is also a “tough shit” culture. Don’t like that you’re required to sit still in your chair from ages 2 through 18, “tough shit.” Don’t like everybody spying on you, tough shit.
Which then leads to a bigger point: Is the leading power in the world always going to be one that pushes the boundaries of brutality? The best state is the best value-maximizer, and that involves extracting the most value from its subjects with the least amount of cost. Renaissance Italy? The mafia or noble families might decide to seize your house. Ancient Egypt? Guess what: you lost your job and are now supposed to build these damn pyramids.
For posterity, here is Alcor’s fees versus inflation (averaging averages):
In skimming through Alcor’s newsletters, I found that most of their fees go to reserves. I wouldn’t be surprised if costs continue to underperform inflation as the number of preservations accelerates and their operating reserves rise.