text stringlengths 300 320k | source stringlengths 52 154 |
|---|---|
# Less to Greater, Bookmarklet Edition
[Lesser2Greater](https://github.com/quanticle/lesser2greater) is a Chrome extension that redirects from lesswrong.com to greaterwrong.com. I’d like to use it, but I’m not a Chrome user. I do, however, use [bookmarklets](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bookmarklet), so I made one t... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/T38ykCkXwHthYAaRf/less-to-greater-bookmarklet-edition |
# Two Kinds of Technology Change
_Many of the examples in this post are drawn from Volume I of Fernand Braudel’s “[Civilization and Capitalism: 15th-18th Century](https://smile.amazon.com/Civilization-Capitalism-15th-18th-Century-Vol/dp/0520081145)”, which I strongly recommend for anyone interested in a quantitative a... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/KEXHXYhk4W3Tr7HHp/two-kinds-of-technology-change |
# Why don’t we treat geniuses like professional athletes?
I mean in the work-environment sense, rather than the celebrity-and-endorsement-deals sense.
A professional sports team gets a lot of benefits that are designed to keep physically talented people performing at their peak. They have support for things like reco... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/g73GpnTZz2nzu3AQY/why-don-t-we-treat-geniuses-like-professional-athletes |
# Bay Area: vibes
Paul Graham [says](http://www.paulgraham.com/cities.html) that cities send subtle messages about what your ambitions should be—different ones tell you to be richer, or be smarter, or to live better. I have lately been feeling like the same is true of people, and groups of people, and TV shows, and so... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/N9Qt62b43hGoXiWvh/bay-area-vibes |
# Public Positions and Private Guts
In this post I lay out a model of beliefs and communication that identify two types of things we might think of as ‘beliefs,’ how they are communicated between people, how they are communicated within people, and what this might imply about intellectual progress in some important fi... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/Zbf2L4ZJf4ykZqmPA/public-positions-and-private-guts |
# Additional arguments for NIMBY
The following post was written in July of 2017 in response to a post by Julia Galef, but I decided not to post/finish it. I figured [I’d piled on](https://thezvi.wordpress.com/2017/08/12/what-is-rationalist-berkleys-community-culture/) [San Francisco](https://thezvi.wordpress.com/2017/... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/CWcpszJhDDaRF7YdD/additional-arguments-for-nimby |
# Nyoom
Let me tell you about my scooter.
I have a foldable electric trike scooter slightly heavier than my toddler. It has no pedal option, just footrests.
It can't reverse. It corners badly. It has a little nubbin that's supposed to keep it from unfolding till I deliberately unfold it, but that usually doesn't wor... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/pHhRt2q3K6KfFE5kd/nyoom |
# Coordination Problems in Evolution: Eigen's Paradox
### Introduction
Lately I've written couple of posts that discuss coordination problems. Not the idealized, game-theoretical stuff but rather the real, messy coordination problems encountered by real people in the real world. Here, I will explore very different te... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/XSKQLeQnBupFo7GGC/coordination-problems-in-evolution-eigen-s-paradox |
# On Hollywood Heroism
_WARNING: This is a very personal essay that includes potentially triggering, childish views of an arrogant past!me, a lot of narrative, long literary tangents, and incredibly brash use of the Oxford comma. If you wish to cut straight to the useful parts, scroll down to Big Letter Headings._... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/azs3Eo3RHcwMjB5HP/on-hollywood-heroism |
# Book review: The Complacent Class
_"The best lack all conviction, while the worst_
_Are full of passionate intensity."_
_--W. B. Yeats_
The idea that things aren't going great these days is pretty widespread; there'... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/wiBJJoMEkJ9yFYhmG/book-review-the-complacent-class |
# Outline of Metarationality, or much less than you wanted to know about postrationality
There was a recent discussion on Facebook that led to an ask for a description of postrationality that isn't framed in terms of how it's different from rationality (or rather perhaps more a challenge that such a thing could not be... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/5LP6Jc8ztwcyb296X/outline-of-metarationality-or-much-less-than-you-wanted-to |
# Effective Altruism Book Review: Radical Abundance (Nanotechnology)
**Book Review: Radical Abundance**
**I. Introduction**
As a materials engineering major with, roughly speaking, a year of full-time experience with molecular dynamics simulations, I have a special place in my heart for high impact materials both li... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/pP43w4aw3czFisddQ/effective-altruism-book-review-radical-abundance |
# Logical Counterfactuals are low-res
Cross-posted from my blog. Related to my several previous posts.
(_Epistemic status: I have no idea why such an obvious observation is never even mentioned by the decision theorists. Or maybe it is, I have not seen it._)
A logical counterfactual, as described by Nate Soares:
> ... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/436REfuffDacQRbzq/logical-counterfactuals-are-low-res |
# Coordination Problems in Evolution: The Rise of Eukaryotes
### Introduction
This is a series of posts about coordination problems, as they appear in the course of biological evolution. It is based on the book "[The Major Transitions in Evolution](https://www.amazon.com/Major-Transitions-Evolution-Maynard-Smith/dp/0... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/MwDaasGo92QXPmDsj/coordination-problems-in-evolution-the-rise-of-eukaryotes |
# Where is my Flying Car?
Book review: Where Is My Flying Car? A Memoir of Future Past, by J.
Storrs Hall (aka Josh).
If you only read the first 3 chapters, you might imagine that this is
the history of just one industry (or the mysterious lack of an
industry).
But this book attributes the absence of that ind... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/qiMxXa4MjnoP72kQD/where-is-my-flying-car |
# The Kelly Criterion
Epistemic Status: Reference Post / Introduction
The Kelly Criterion is a formula to determine how big one should wager on a given proposition when given the opportunity.
It is elegant, important and highly useful. When considering sizing wagers or investments, if you don’t understand Kelly, *yo... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/BZ6XaCwN4QGgH9CxF/the-kelly-criterion |
# Alignment Newsletter #28
Highlights
**[Motivating the Rules of the Game for Adversarial Example Research](https://arxiv.org/abs/1807.06732)** _(Justin Gilmer, George E. Dahl et al)_ (summarized by Dan H): In this position paper, the authors argue that many of the threat models which motivate adversarial examples ar... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/3JfrwRNgSqH9fqsQT/alignment-newsletter-28 |
# "Now here's why I'm punching you..."
Related: [be nice, at least until you can coordinate meanness](http://slatestarcodex.com/2016/05/02/be-nice-at-least-until-you-can-coordinate-meanness/).
A premise of this post is that punching people is sometimes better than the alternatives.
I mean that literally, but mostly ... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/Btdy7Fefer7S5J6qE/now-here-s-why-i-m-punching-you |
# case study: iterative drawing
This exercise brings together a few principles from my previous posts. If you're in the mood to to a little drawing (15mins).
>experiment:
>pick an object (eg a cup) to draw. Divide your page into 20 rectangles. Do a brief sketch in one of the rectangles. For a few moments, thoughtful... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/wuwhrNBt4DbnJCLFC/case-study-iterative-drawing |
# Policy Beats Morality
([Crossposted from Medium](https://medium.com/@davidmanheim/policy-beats-morality-2d12b689bde8))
This is a simple point, but one that gets overlooked, so I think it deserves a clear statement. Morality is less effective than incentives at changing behavior, and most of the time, policy is ... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/RK8koC4Bfg54G7jTk/policy-beats-morality |
# Trying for Five Minutes on AI Strategy
*Epistemic Status: I know basically nothing about any of this, or at least no more than any other LessWronger, I just happened to listen to some podcasts about AI strategy recently and decided to [try](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/fhEPnveFhb9tmd7Pe/use-the-try-harder-luke) m... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/x4tyb9di28b4n9EE2/trying-for-five-minutes-on-ai-strategy |
# Being a Robust Agent
_Second version, updated for the 2018 Review. See [change notes](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/2jfiMgKkh7qw9z8Do/being-a-robust-coherent-agent-v2#REiyBSrGbyK6L2tqu)._
There's a concept which many LessWrong essays have pointed at it (indeed, I think the [entire sequences](https://www.lessw... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/2jfiMgKkh7qw9z8Do/being-a-robust-agent |
# UBI for President
Cross posted, as always, [from Putanumonit](https://putanumonit.com/2018/10/10/ubi-for-president/).
Epistemic status: I am not an economist, and neither is Andrew Yang. On the other hand, it's not like the experts are brimming with great solutions to the problems discussed herein, or are united in... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/D2CWfcnwcJCR8rNzZ/ubi-for-president |
# Facebook, The Rodents, and The Common Knowledge Machine
"The rationalist communities use of Facebook is an inadequate scenario. A group of people put real money into making a simple tool that could enable transitions from inadequate equilibria to better, 'adequate' ones. This tool was made in the basic sense, bu... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/7bZCxWkbKRioqRrJN/facebook-the-rodents-and-the-common-knowledge-machine |
# Book review: 23 things they don't tell you about capitalism
Right from the title of his book _23 things they don't tell you about capitalism_, it's clear that Ha-Joon Chang is pitting himself against the establishment. In doing so, he lay... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/HSbtMyNg88vctNyz9/book-review-23-things-they-don-t-tell-you-about-capitalism |
# Update on Structured Concurrency
Since I've written the article on [structured concurrency](http://250bpm.com/blog:71) and implemented [libdill](http://libdill.org/) the progress went on.
Most importantly, Nathaniel J. Smith has published his "[Notes on structured concurrency, or: Go statement considered harmful](h... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/bbDfSGd4daqPTRdK8/update-on-structured-concurrency |
# The Art of the Overbet
Previously: [The Kelly Criterion](https://thezvi.wordpress.com/2018/10/15/the-kelly-criterion/)
Last time I said, never go full Kelly.
In practice, I strongly agree with this. Either one should go _far over _full Kelly because the core Kelly assumptions have broken down and you want to throw... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/Neg8pymx9wyqdDjGn/the-art-of-the-overbet |
# New GreaterWrong feature: anti-kibitzer (hides post/comment author names and karma values)
[GreaterWrong](https://www.greaterwrong.com) now has a new feature (which [was once available for the original Less Wrong](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/XbfdLQrAWTRfpggRM/lesswrong-anti-kibitzer-hides-comment-authors-and-vot... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/jD496b5RZKQkxP63N/new-greaterwrong-feature-anti-kibitzer-hides-post-comment |
# Berkeley: being other people
Sometimes I enjoy understanding better what it is like to be other people. You can do this somewhat subtly by talking to people for ages about other topics, and making inferences. Lately I’ve been asking more directly, something like, ‘what about your experience do you think other people... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/noL9cL9LuHeuGdMMM/berkeley-being-other-people |
# Addressing three problems with counterfactual corrigibility: bad bets, defending against backstops, and overconfidence.
Summary: I propose that counterfactual corrigibility can be slightly adjusted to address known problems with bad bets and defending against backstops. This adjusted version has learning-esque behav... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/owdBiF8pj6Lpwwdup/addressing-three-problems-with-counterfactual-corrigibility |
# List of previous prediction market projects
[Here](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1XB1GHfizNtVYTOAD_uOyBLEyl_EV7hVtDYDXLQwgT7k/edit?usp=sharing) I try to curate what is, to my knowledge, the most extensive list of previous prediction market projects.
This is useful because it provides a reference class to a... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/5aacTtn8fWavbBeEe/list-of-previous-prediction-market-projects |
# One Doubt About Timeless Decision Theories
[Timeless Decisions Theories](https://intelligence.org/files/TDT.pdf) (including variants like FDT, UDT, ADT, ect.) provide a rather elegant method of solving a broader class of problems than CDT. While CDT requires the outcomes of decisions to be independent of the individ... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/XoMjRrH4s3trAZdEX/one-doubt-about-timeless-decision-theories |
# Alignment Newsletter #29
Highlights
**[Deep Imitative Models for Flexible Inference, Planning, and Control](http://arxiv.org/abs/1810.06544)** _(Nicholas Rhinehart et al)_: It's hard to apply deep RL techniques to autonomous driving, because we can't simply collect a large amount of experience with collisions in or... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/yKoW5bZjnJemEkPgc/alignment-newsletter-29 |
# Kalman Filter for Bayesians
Summary: the Kalman Filter is Bayesian updating applied to systems that are changing over time, assuming all our distributions are Gaussians and all our transformations are linear.
**Preamble - the general Bayesian approach to estimation:** the Kalman filter is an approach to estimating ... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/nM4bm6tkbZZaScLPp/kalman-filter-for-bayesians |
# look at the water
Occasionally I’ve noticed I’m handicapping myself. I don’t let knowledge I know from different contexts seep in. I’ve got to solve the assignment problem the “proper way”.
If this was a problem I’d stumbled upon in the wild I would throw any tool I had at it. I’m not trying to solve this math que... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/jxvT3bAfekBPApb5q/look-at-the-water |
# Possible Dangers of the Unrestricted Value Learners
_TL;DR: AI which is learning human values may act unethically or be catastrophically dangerous, as it doesn’t yet understand human values._
The main idea is simple: a young AI which is trying to learn human values (which I... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/hzEaasJyQsutYDNfN/possible-dangers-of-the-unrestricted-value-learners |
# Unikernels: No Longer an Academic Exercise
### Introduction
I've been following the [unikernel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unikernel) area for years and I really liked the idea, but I was unconvinced about the possibility of the wide-scale adoption of the technology.
The cost was just too high. It required you ... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/648nBLLLRhsXxN3bQ/unikernels-no-longer-an-academic-exercise |
# Mark Eichenlaub: How to develop scientific intuition
Recently on the [CFAR](http://rationality.org/) alumni mailing list, someone asked a question about how to develop scientific intuition. In response, [Mark Eichenlaub](http://umdperg.pbworks.com/w/page/106851135/Mark%20Eichenlaub) posted an excellent and extensive... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/xs7noq52qYaCYNCws/mark-eichenlaub-how-to-develop-scientific-intuition |
# Cognitive Enhancers: Mechanisms And Tradeoffs
*\[Epistemic status: so, so, so speculative. I do not necessarily endorse taking any of the substances mentioned in this post.\]*
There’s been recent interest in “smart drugs” said to enhance learning and memory. For example, from the [Washington Post](https://www.washi... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/rRzZzBBQ36CrqhZTY/cognitive-enhancers-mechanisms-and-tradeoffs |
# play and spinning plates
There are four levels of ignorance [1]:
* Known Knowns - Knowledge - Things you know and you know you know them.
* Known Unknowns - Lack of Knowledge - Things you know you don’t know. - I don’t know how to juggle, piffle is probably a word, That feeling that there’s something you’ve forgot... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/9CFrrjdQKexgQFbcF/play-and-spinning-plates |
# Starting Meditation
_\[Update\] this intent has been put on hold. Check [this comment](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/eZezBzp7JnevBNAkj/starting-meditation#zxm4ZkpcviEYvPkG3) for details. This note was put at the top, because whenever I see a post about "I'm going to do XYZ" my most burning question is always, "Wel... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/eZezBzp7JnevBNAkj/starting-meditation |
# In praise of heuristics
We’ll get there in the end, bear with me.
Introduction to ZD strategies in IPD
------------------------------------
_Feel free to skip if you’re already familiar with ZD strategies._
In the iterated prisoner’s dilemma (IPD) a zero determinant (ZD) strategy is one which forces your opponent... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/BktRFP2jtYLJvFLEg/in-praise-of-heuristics |
# What will the long-term future of employment look like?
Current debates over the automation of human jobs by AI tend to focus on how fast it will proceed: some jobs will be safe for the next decade, some for the next half-century, some for the foreseeable future. In this essay I want to take a different approach, by... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/y44qHY8ht7QZPb7bK/what-will-the-long-term-future-of-employment-look-like |
# When EDT=CDT, ADT Does Well
Back in my [first post about ADT](https://www.alignmentforum.org/posts/yXCvYqTZCsfN7WRrg/asymptotic-decision-theory-improved-writeup), I conjectured that ADT might achieve sublinear regret relative to argmaxing for the true embedder, if some extra condition was imposed.
**The Problem:**... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/pgJbaXvYWBx3Mrg5T/when-edt-cdt-adt-does-well |
# In favor of tabooing the word “values” and using only “priorities” instead
I don’t know if this is trivial/obvious or absurd or anything in between, so maybe you guys would like to help me judge?
The idea is simple. I’m confused by the term “values” in the moral and ethical sense. The way I often see it used, it ma... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/6C27jxZtZAAeWMaEg/in-favor-of-tabooing-the-word-values-and-using-only |
# [Beta] Post-Read-Status on Lessestwrong
Over on Lessestwrong.com (our sometimes-staging-site), we're trying out an update to how post items display on the frontpage. Posts that you've read now appear slightly grey. The goal is to make it so you can tell when you've read a post at a glance, without making it feel lik... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/L5vxDQtEdXQhD8PaN/beta-post-read-status-on-lessestwrong |
# Schools Proliferating Without Practicioners
Very interesting post from "The Last Rationalist" discussing how the rationalist community seems to have been slow to update on comparative impracticality of formal Bayes and on the replication crisis in psychology.
I don't fully agree with this post - for instance, my im... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/9t7AGZBvF5jiWyodA/schools-proliferating-without-practicioners |
# East Coast Rationalist Megameetup 2018
**NYC Secular Solstice this year will be on December 15. That weekend, from December 14 to 17, we'll be hosting a rationalist community gathering with accommodations for out-of-towners in the NYC area. If you'd like to join us, please register at [rationalistmegameetup.com](htt... | https://www.lesswrong.com/events/rYBaS8PHEbmoomwAS/east-coast-rationalist-megameetup-2018 |
# On Doing the Improbable
(Cross-posted from Facebook.)
* * *
I've noticed that, by my standards and on an Eliezeromorphic metric, most people seem to require catastrophically high levels of faith in what they're doing in order to stick to it. By this I mean that they would not have stuck to writing the Sequences or... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/st7DiQP23YQSxumCt/on-doing-the-improbable |
# Boston Solstice 2018
Six years ago Julia and I took the bus down to NYC with a group from the Boston LessWrong meetup. We were headed to a Solstice celebration and megameetup [Ray](https://www.lesswrong.com/users/raemon) was organizing. It was a good weekend: lots of talking to people I'd only met online, various pr... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/ERboWueanAyqwKbiQ/boston-solstice-2018 |
# Alignment Newsletter #30
Highlights
**[Learning Complex Goals with Iterated Amplification](https://blog.openai.com/amplifying-ai-training/)** _(Paul Christiano et al)_: This blog post and the accompanying [paper](https://arxiv.org/abs/1810.08575) introduces iterated amplification, focusing on how it can be used to ... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/SPa6YYyeam2exxPMy/alignment-newsletter-30 |
# East Coast Rationalist Megameetup 2018
**NYC Secular Solstice this year will be on December 15. That weekend, from December 14 to 17, we'll be hosting a rationalist community gathering with accommodations for out-of-towners in the NYC area. If you'd like to join us, please register at [rationalistmegameetup.com](htt... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/gahx6nY66N4P2kpbG/east-coast-rationalist-megameetup-2018 |
# Embedded Agents
*(A longer text-based version of this post is also available on MIRI's blog* [*here*](https://intelligence.org/2018/10/29/embedded-agents/)*, and the bibliography for the whole sequence can be found* [*here*](https://intelligence.org/embedded-agency)*)*
_After a few months of open beta, the_ [AI Alignment Forum](http://alignmentforum.org/) _is ready to launch. It is a new website built by the team behind LessWrong 2.0, to help create a new hub for technical AI Alignment research and discussion. This is an in-progress FAQ abo... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/FoiiRDC3EhjHx7ayY/introducing-the-ai-alignment-forum-faq |
# An Undergraduate Reading Of: Semantic information, autonomous agency and non-equilibrium statistical physics
This is a recent paper by Artemy Kolchinsky and David H. Wolpert, from the Santa Fe Institute. It was published in [The Royal Society Interface](http://rsfs.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/8/6/20180041) on... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/RmEeXbvrmakRubTzN/an-undergraduate-reading-of-semantic-information-autonomous |
# Preface to the sequence on value learning
_This is a meta-post about the upcoming sequence on Value Learning that will start to be published this Thursday. This preface will also be revised significantly once the second half of the sequence is fully written._
Purpose of the sequence
-----------------------
The fir... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/oH8KMnXHnw964QyS6/preface-to-the-sequence-on-value-learning |
# Good Samaritans in experiments
Consider 2 people. Both are seminary students who are taking part in an experiment ostensibly to consider different types of religiosity. One is asked to prepare a short talk on the Good Samaritan, the other on potential future careers for seminar graduates.
They are both told to go t... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/kmT47aLQmqzcw329Y/good-samaritans-in-experiments |
# Debate Rules In Benjamin Franklin's Junto
*(Note: The Junto was a secret society formed by Benjamin Franklin for the purpose of intellectual discourse and business networking. The following is the debate rules they used to maintain an atmosphere of reason.)*
1. Our debates were to be under the direction of a presid... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/dFbktKRpMErqE98A3/debate-rules-in-benjamin-franklin-s-junto |
# Thoughts on "Ontological Crises"
(Originally posted at [https://plus.google.com/+ThomasColthurst/posts/5fcw5wgVrpj](https://plus.google.com/+ThomasColthurst/posts/5fcw5wgVrpj) in 2013)
I love the premise of Peter de Blanc's ["Ontological Crises in Artificial Agents’ Value Systems"](http://intelligence.org/files/Ont... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/ZBeMMtCpehj3taqwC/thoughts-on-ontological-crises |
# Two Approaches to Structured Concurrency
I am the author of [libdill](http://libdill.org/), a library that brings [structured concurrency](https://vorpus.org/blog/notes-on-structured-concurrency-or-go-statement-considered-harmful/) to C language. However, the concept of structured concurrency is still evolving and w... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/pGySnaGL8WYiDT8vq/two-approaches-to-structured-concurrency |
# Decision Theory
*(A longer text-based version of this post is also available on MIRI's blog* [*here*](https://intelligence.org/2018/10/31/embedded-decisions/)*, and the bibliography for the whole sequence can be found* [*here*](https://intelligence.org/embedded-agency)*.)*
: Written in 2010. Possibly of historic interest only.\]
[Goodhart's Law](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodhart's_law) states that "Any observed statistical regularity will tend to collapse once pressure is ... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/t5YoefT54oCPE6fbd/goodhart-s-law-and-genies |
# Linkpost: Arena’s New Opening Hand Rule Has Huge Implications For How We Play the Game
This is a link-post for my latest Magic article, posted on Channel-Fireball: [Arena’s New Opening Hand Rule Has Huge Implications For How We Play the Game.](https://www.channelfireball.com/articles/arenas-new-opening-hand-rule-has... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/xpBjusQv9a7sPKc7a/linkpost-arena-s-new-opening-hand-rule-has-huge-implications |
# Implementations of immortality
(Inspired by [Eliezer's essays on designing utopias](http://lesswrong.com/lw/y0/31_laws_of_fun/).)
I was recently talking to a friend about what key features society would need for people to be happy throughout arbitrarily-long lives - in other words, what would a utopia for immortals... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/pb8xf2SYqttaxdK69/implementations-of-immortality |
# What is ambitious value learning?
I think of ambitious value learning as a proposed solution to the specification problem, which I define as the problem of _defining_ the behavior that we would want to see from our AI system. I italicize “defining” to emphasize that this is _not_ the problem of actually _computing_ ... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/5eX8ko7GCxwR5N9mN/what-is-ambitious-value-learning |
# Discussion on the machine learning approach to AI safety
(Cross-posted from [personal blog](https://vkrakovna.wordpress.com/2018/11/01/discussion-on-the-machine-learning-approach-to-ai-safety/).)
At this year's [EA Global London](http://london.eaglobal.org/) conference, Jan Leike and I ran a [discussion session](ht... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/5GFn87cmw7A5hzR89/discussion-on-the-machine-learning-approach-to-ai-safety |
# Meta-execution
This post describes meta-execution, my current proposal for [capability amplification](https://medium.com/ai-control/policy-amplification-6a70cbee4f34) and [security amplification](https://medium.com/ai-control/security-amplification-f4931419f903#.xb6xc8jaa).
(_Meta-execution is_ _[annotated function... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/4GXqbNvpJ4hJtcoSX/meta-execution |
# Embedded World-Models
_(A longer text-based version of this post is also available on MIRI's blog_ _[here](https://intelligence.org/2018/11/02/embedded-models/), and the bibliography for the whole sequence can be found_ _[here](https://intelligence.org/embedded-agency))_
_(Edit: This post had 15 slides added on Sat... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/efWfvrWLgJmbBAs3m/embedded-world-models |
# The easy goal inference problem is still hard
_Posted as part of the AI Alignment Forum sequence on [Value Learning](https://www.alignmentforum.org/s/4dHMdK5TLN6xcqtyc)._
> **Rohin’s note:** In this post (original [here)](https://ai-alignment.com/the-easy-goal-inference-problem-is-still-hard-fad030e0a876), Paul Chr... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/h9DesGT3WT9u2k7Hr/the-easy-goal-inference-problem-is-still-hard |
# New GreaterWrong feature: image zoom + image slideshows
[GreaterWrong](https://www.greaterwrong.com) now has a new feature: **image zoom / slideshows**.
Whenever a post contains images (such as [this recent post about embedded world-models](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/efWfvrWLgJmbBAs3m/embedded-world-models))... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/pZjw7ew9TBvHpEcvt/new-greaterwrong-feature-image-zoom-image-slideshows |
# Robust Delegation
_(A longer text-based version of this post is also available on MIRI's blog [here](https://intelligence.org/2018/11/04/embedded-delegation/), and the bibliography for the whole sequence can be found_ _[here](https://intelligence.org/embedded-agency))_
, [Extreme Rationality: It could Be Great](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/B3b29FJboqnANJRDz/extreme-rationality-it-could-be-great)... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/bRGbdG58cJ8RGjS5G/no-really-why-aren-t-rationalists-winning |
# Beliefs at different timescales
Why is a chess game the opposite of an ideal gas? On short timescales an ideal gas is described by elastic collisions. And a single move in chess can be modeled by a [policy network](https://arxiv.org/abs/1712.01815).
The difference is in long timescales: If we simulated elastic coll... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/yf4KcTyk2hoXZh9x4/beliefs-at-different-timescales |
# When does rationality-as-search have nontrivial implications?
(This originated as [a comment](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/efWfvrWLgJmbBAs3m/embedded-world-models#gBYrqXG84Fhmd7Cuh) on the post ["Embedded World-Models,"](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/efWfvrWLgJmbBAs3m/) but it makes a broadly applicable point a... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/BGcXEijZ6HLnASNit/when-does-rationality-as-search-have-nontrivial-implications |
# Humans can be assigned any values whatsoever…
_(Re)Posted as part of the AI Alignment Forum sequence on_ _[Value Learning](https://www.alignmentforum.org/s/4dHMdK5TLN6xcqtyc)._
> **Rohin’s note:** In the last [post](https://www.alignmentforum.org/s/4dHMdK5TLN6xcqtyc/p/h9DesGT3WT9u2k7Hr), we saw that a good broad va... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/ANupXf8XfZo2EJxGv/humans-can-be-assigned-any-values-whatsoever |
# Speculations on improving debating
I was recently discussing with a friend whether or not competitive debating makes you better at figuring out what is actually true. This is an interesting question, because debating influences people in a variety of different ways. The most basic is that participating in debates, o... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/tfJWvNZtqJYsQpY4o/speculations-on-improving-debating |
# Octopath Traveler: Spoiler-Free Review
Epistemic Status: Full Play Through, extensive experience with similar games
Previous Spoiler-Free Review: [Persona 5: Spoiler-Free Review](https://thezvi.wordpress.com/2017/06/13/persona-5-spoiler-free-review/)
Soon I hope to write Against Spoilers, which will detail how har... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/3bbDhKrt8hGQAPfGy/octopath-traveler-spoiler-free-review |
# Alignment Newsletter #31
Highlights
**[Introducing the AI Alignment Forum (FAQ)](https://www.alignmentforum.org/posts/FoiiRDC3EhjHx7ayY/introducing-the-ai-alignment-forum-faq)** _(habryka)_: The Alignment Forum has officially launched! It aims to be the single online hub for researchers to have conversations about ... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/gvAFSv7Gtcwcbst32/alignment-newsletter-31 |
# Subsystem Alignment
_(The bibliography for the whole sequence can be found_ _[here](https://intelligence.org/embedded-agency))_
 
Nick Bostrom has put up a new working paper to his personal site (for the first time in two years?), called _The Vulnerable World Hypothesis_.
I don't think I have time to read it all, but I'd be interested to see people **comment with some choice quotes** from the paper... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/Tx6dGzYLtfzzkuGtF/the-vulnerable-world-hypothesis-by-bostrom |
# Rationality of demonstrating & voting
Summary
-------
Based on rough estimates of their effectiveness, voting is a very good use of time, but demonstrating far less so – though it may still be worth doing, at least for a very large demonstration on a major issue.
Introduction
------------
Why bother voting? Your ... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/juusvkkMvuC5D7Een/rationality-of-demonstrating-and-voting |
# Latent Variables and Model Mis-Specification
*Posted as part of the AI Alignment Forum sequence on* [*Value Learning*](https://www.alignmentforum.org/s/4dHMdK5TLN6xcqtyc)*.*
> **Rohin's note:** So far, we’ve [seen](https://www.alignmentforum.org/s/4dHMdK5TLN6xcqtyc/p/h9DesGT3WT9u2k7Hr) that ambitious value learning... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/gnvrixhDfG7S2TpNL/latent-variables-and-model-mis-specification |
# Bayes Questions
For the first time ever I’ve had reason to use formal Bayesian statistics in my work. I feel this is a cause for streamers and confetti.
However, I’ve got a bit stuck on analysing my confidence levels and I thought what better place than lesswrong to check that I’m making sense. I’m not sure this is... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/MbSvKHJNcM5EwPiCF/bayes-questions |
# Burnout: What it is and how to Treat it.
I reviewed the scientific literature on burnout to create a better definition and treatment plan.
Tl;dr
Social support == Good.
Sleep == Good.
Ambiguity == Bad.
Vacations == Meh.
I expect a lot of value in the comments and want to keep them all in one place, so comm... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/sSrQ4RJyzD9JmZCLt/burnout-what-it-is-and-how-to-treat-it |
# What are Universal Inductors, Again?
\[Attention Conservation Notice: This just recaps an old result and patches a hole in it, it doesn't contain substantially new ideas.\]
Universal Inductors can be thought of as logical inductors over bitstrings, which are notable because they can act as a logical inductor over a... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/FnH2G832sWMySptp5/what-are-universal-inductors-again |
# The new Effective Altruism forum just launched
CEA just launched the new EA forum, now located at [forum.effectivealtruism.org](http://forum.effectivealtruism.org). It's based on the LessWrong codebase, and we've collaborated with them on getting everything up and running and making the codebase adaptable for them, ... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/Pkk6LziSsCMi8TWzw/the-new-effective-altruism-forum-just-launched |
# Is Copenhagen or Many Worlds true? An experiment. What? Yes.
If this paper is right, an experiment should be possible.
Building it also doesn't seem that hard to do technically, so I think it could be interesting to watch in the coming months/years.
If Many Worlds dies, we would seem to have a perpetual motion mac... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/PgGHCqfBHHsKfuKkT/is-copenhagen-or-many-worlds-true-an-experiment-what-yes |
# On first looking into Russell's History
Notes from Bertrand Russell's _History of Western Philosophy_, in particular the sections on ancient philosophy and theology.
* Western civilisation began in the city-states of Greece - and there wasn't any comparable intellectual and artistic flourishing until the city-sta... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/qpzg7HpL6Z9Tphpre/on-first-looking-into-russell-s-history |
# Embedded Curiosities
A final word on curiosity, and intellectual puzzles:
I described an embedded agent, Emmy, and said that I don't understand how she evaluates her options, models the world, models herself, or decomposes and solves problems.
In the past, when researchers have talked about motivations for working... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/j9CbmSsnprxB2uFY9/embedded-curiosities |
# Update the best textbooks on every subject list
I occasionally refer back to lukeprog's [Best Textbooks on Every Subject](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/xg3hXCYQPJkwHyik2/the-best-textbooks-on-every-subject?postId=xg3hXCYQPJkwHyik2&view=postCommentsTop) post. I thought it might be a good idea to direct people back ... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/tJrEDkbS76xX96YDR/update-the-best-textbooks-on-every-subject-list |
# Prediction-Augmented Evaluation Systems
[Note: I made a short video of myself explaining this document [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0f99b2UR4A).]
It's common for groups of people to want to evaluate specific things. Here are a few examples I'm interested in:
* The expected value of projects or actions... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/kMmNdHpQPcnJgnAQF/prediction-augmented-evaluation-systems |
# Model Mis-specification and Inverse Reinforcement Learning
*Posted as part of the AI Alignment Forum sequence on* [*Value Learning*](https://www.alignmentforum.org/s/4dHMdK5TLN6xcqtyc)*.*
> **Rohin's note:** While I motivated the [last post](https://www.alignmentforum.org/posts/gnvrixhDfG7S2TpNL/latent-variables-an... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/cnC2RMWEGiGpJv8go/model-mis-specification-and-inverse-reinforcement-learning |
# Current AI Safety Roles for Software Engineers
[Note: Please make sure to see the comments for other, newer information]
I've had several conversations over the last few months with engineers who were trying to enter the field of AI safety. It became evident that I was giving pretty much the same advice to all of t... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/3u8oZEEayqqjjZ7Nw/current-ai-safety-roles-for-software-engineers |
# Real-time hiring with prediction markets
_Epistemic status: speculation_
I have a couple of assumptions about hiring:
* It is difficult and often unpleasant.
* No one is very good at it.
* It has a lot of hidden costs.
I have a further assumption about the need for labor:
* The people doing the work now ... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/b63ZX3r5nBoAwgt6J/real-time-hiring-with-prediction-markets |
# Preface to the sequence on iterated amplification
This sequence describes iterated amplification, a possible strategy for building an AI that is actually trying to do what we want out of ML systems trained by gradient descent.
Iterated amplification is not intended to be a silver bullet that resolves all of the pos... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/HCv2uwgDGf5dyX5y6/preface-to-the-sequence-on-iterated-amplification |
# Competitive Markets as Distributed Backprop
_Requisite background: high school level programming and calculus. Explanation of backprop is included, skim it if you know it. This was originally written as the first half of a [post on organizational scaling](https://medium.com/@johnwentworth/requisite-background-high-s... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/brhWPoNsBN7za3xjs/competitive-markets-as-distributed-backprop |
# Reconciling Left and Right, from the Bottom-Up
_This is a repost of my [blog post](https://medium.com/@couldbewrong/reconciling-left-and-right-from-the-bottom-up-3227eb1c0b47) from my medium account, . I got the idea to write it based on [this comment](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/Zbf2L4ZJf4ykZqmPA/public-positio... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/Ep7j56XQnxYH9vN3m/reconciling-left-and-right-from-the-bottom-up |
# Future directions for ambitious value learning
To recap the sequence so far:
* [Ambitious value learning](https://www.alignmentforum.org/s/4dHMdK5TLN6xcqtyc/p/5eX8ko7GCxwR5N9mN) aims to infer a utility function that is safe to maximize, by looking at human behavior.
* [However](https://www.alignmentforum.org/s/... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/EhNCnCkmu7MwrQ7yz/future-directions-for-ambitious-value-learning |
# “She Wanted It”
_Epistemic Status: Things I Will Regret Writing_
One of the most persistent arguments, often left implicit, that antifeminists have on their side is “Women want to be raped and abused.”
On one hand, this is an obvious logical contradiction if taken literally. Rape is unwanted sex — how can you wan... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/HuFZJkGptWDtRbkWs/she-wanted-it |
# Rationality Is Not Systematized Winning
>"Rationality is systematized winning" is a slogan that was adopted to patch a bug in human cognition. Namely our endless capacity to delude ourselves about how we did in an attempt to save face. The concept seems to have been absorbed, but I'm skeptical it's translated into m... | https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/JZfLmEvK9kdGopS6P/rationality-is-not-systematized-winning |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.