From: Brian Phillips (deepbluehalo@earthlink.net)
Date: Fri May 03 2002 - 05:49:33 MDT
From: gabriel C <drachyneyes@hotmail.com>
>
> Tee hee.
>
> Eliezer, maybe there should be a simple disclaimer on your page: "Before
> subscribing to SL4, make damn sure that you ARE shock level 4, and
> understand the advanced memes that that entails, and can discuss them
> without reflexive negative reactions"
>
>
> gabe
all,
Actually there ARE (at least a few) SL3 types on the list who are polite
and understand the concept of not spitting in the sandbox everyone
else is playing in.
I happen to be one of them.
I don't claim to be at Shock Level Four, since I think a near-term
hard-take off nanosingularity is about as likely as my cat shitting a
9 millimeter beretta.
Jupiter Brains and the like are not problems, I just don't see them
as near term. I'd like to be a Jupiter brain someday, and keep my
meat body up in the attic for parties. BUT.....
It is important to note that just because someone doesn't jump on
a Singularity bandwagon doesn't mean they are somehow
"below an appropriate Shock Level".
Honestly, how many people on this list can seriously claim to understand
the programming and cognitive science Eli and Ben throw around, at least
well enough to know if they have even a remote chance of success?
Not many I would say. I suspect even Eli and Ben can't really say they
truly know what they are talking about. That's the nature of doing something
that hasn't been done before.. it's all hazy.
And as far as dragging oneself up to that speed in the cogsci and the
compsci,
that's time intensive. VERY time intensive. Which is more important,
finishing
my education and entering a lucrative profession (a fairly "sure thing" so
to speak)
or entering a Ph.D. program in cogsci so I can really figure out whether
Friendliness is a pile of semantic horseshit or a Truly Brilliant Idea?
Guess it depends on what your goals are.
Point being I don't claim to be a Singularitarian (not in the singint
sense).
But many here do. If you claim to be at SL4 and you're a Singularity
fanatic why aren't you acting on it? Not to be a prick but "memetic
engineering"
and "PR" is a fine excuse not to work your ass off, at least for most folks.
If I claim to be a solid SL3 kindof guy, I should be putting in an
optimum
number of miles running each week, working on complete habitual CR by
the age of 30, making a pile of money for my brain-computer-interface,
watching
my tech stocks etc.
If you claim to be a solid SL4 kind of guy/gal perhaps you should be in
grad
school, working on a doctorate so you can run interference for the AI guy
among the academic types who won't even bother to read something from
someone who doesn't have a "union card". :) Maybe you will be
quietly working to develop skill in personal protection services or some
other highly useful skill for a Singularitarian.
Perhaps you will be doing something entirely different. I would expect you
to be trying to understand CATAI at least well enough to try to catch Eli's
mistakes. But that isn't the sort of traffice that permeates this "SL 4"
List
is it?
I know what MY excuse is..
What's YOURS?
arrogance, however satisfying, is usually a liability,
brian
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