Not going to be everyone’s vibe that’s fine, but if you’ve forgotten that there are other reasons to read something besides maximally efficient intake of information then that’s a problem...
rogersbacon
Karma: 475
Efficient communication/intake of information is not the only reason that people write or read…
Is Progress Real?
MAKE IT BETTER (a poetic demonstration of the banality of GPT-3)
“Are Experiments Possible?” Seeds of Science call for reviewers
there is no main idea and I’m not trying to convince anyone of anything. It is nothing.
“probably wrong” thank you so much for this
Nothing.
Thank you for your review!
They do spend considerable time discussing that in the article
What are the Red Flags for Neural Network Suffering? - Seeds of Science call for reviewers
Yes
How to Become a World Historical Figure (Péladan’s Dream)
To be clear, I am not the author—this is an article that was submitted to the journal. If you want to read the article just reach out the email above (if you want to take a look without registering to be a gardener that is okay).
Moral Weights of Six Animals, Considering Viewpoint Uncertainty—Seeds of Science call for reviewers
I’ll just post a twitter thread here that I wrote in response to criticism. Maybe this will clarify my goals/intentions
I want “nerds” to realize that we are not above performative attention-seeking behavior, that we can really easily slip into a failure mode of “write a blog post that embraces some high-minded ideal that no one disagrees with and then propose some law/policy/program that will supposedly increase this thing and then pat yourself on the back and move on”. I wanted to expose my own emotions and insecurities around really caring about science/progress/altruism/etc. while also really wanting people to read and praise my writing because I think other people struggle with this too. I want people reflect on the fact that writing =/= thinking and if you aren’t careful it’s easy to forget that. I wanted people to consider that explicitly trying to be innovative, creative, or smart might not work as well being as earnest as possible in your pursuit of curiosity, love, beauty, etc and that internet/social media can make it really hard to be earnest in your intellectual pursuits. I also just wanted to entertain and make people laugh; of course I was making arguments but I also view this essay as art (pretentious, I know)– I want people to know it’s okay to do both, not everything has to be a Very Serious Essay That Convinces You of Something. In fact, I would argue that there is a dearth of aesthetic sensibilities in the science/progress/EA space and that we all might benefit from a little more style, emotion, beauty, and humor.
Fuck Your Miracle Year
Also, check out the substack :) - https://rogersbacon.substack.com/
Being a little tongue-in-cheek with this one, but I think recent US history shows racial preferences are more malleable than we might think. Will there be a tipping point when everyone is either mixed or has a close relative that’s mixed where it will seem a little more silly to argue about race? I don’t know about Brazil and would be curious to hear more like Ben Pace.
I could not care less whether or not any reads this.