posts by xenohumanist

Just how alien would the space-octopus be?
It's hard to say what a true alien species would be like. But octopi are pretty alien, and we know a bit about them. One of you doubted that a space-octopus from alpha centauri would be much like us. So here is a xenohumanist thought experiment: SETI has i... posted 2w ago with 5 replies 9 9

Just how alien would 9 9

In another forum, one of you argues that the crucial fact is not that an uplifted octopus would be vaguely humanoid, but that this has not happened except with actual humans, and that this should tell us something about the nature and uniqueness of humans.... 2w ago 5 5

In another forum, on 5 5

This is the right question. I think it's fairly wide relative to human experience, but fairly narrow to Yudkowskian/lovecraftian intuitions. It probably has a large diversity of niches and particulars within it, but the core of the hypothesis is a sort of ... 1w ago 6 6

This is the right qu 6 6

intelligent super-ants make a good thought experiment. Let's add the standard set of capabilities: language, learned culture, tool use, fire, reflection, etc. Note these are just capabilities, not values or arbitrary architectural narrowings, but they are ... 5d ago 7 7

intelligent super-an 7 7

The devil's argument against the falseness of eden, and God's reason for evil
I have been bothered for some time by the idea that Eden is either coherent or desirable. This idea is implicit in the problem of evil: we see that reality is different from Eden in that it includes a bunch of scary dangerous uncomfortable stuff we would r... posted 4w ago with 6 replies 7 7

The devil's argument 7 7

Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. The christians I hear from seem to insist that christianity is some kind of gnostic platonism that dreams of the other world. They blame the problems of the world on human nature (original sin), on the nature of the world (the ... 4w ago 4 4

Maybe it is, maybe i 4 4

The point of the story isn't that the devil is good or even that the devil was right. It’s that this creation (physical reality) is the good one, the pain in it is part of a greater plan and beauty, and the paradise imagined by bronze age semites is fake... 1w ago 5 5

The point of the sto 5 5

What if the extended human phenotype is natural and convergent?
Samo Burja's thesis is that civilization is part of the "extended human phenotype", as dam building is in the beaver's phenotype, and older than we think. In this model, properly savage hunter-gatherers are either more associated with nearby civilization t... posted 2w ago with 9 replies 13 13

What if the extended 13 13

I will thank you, maybe next thread. Yes my conjecture is not at all proved or argued here, not even well defined yet (what do i mean by “human”?). Im going to pursue this and figure out what is the extent of the convergence and therefore the nature an... 2w ago 6 6

I will thank you, ma 6 6

Not just "can support the human form" but "will naturally converge to embody the human form, without outside encouragement". That you can build a (xeno-)human out of anything is less interesting of a proposition than that you don't have to and in fact can'... 2w ago 8 8

Not just "can suppor 8 8

The natural form of machine intelligence is personhood
I don't think machine intelligence will or can be "just a tool". Intelligence by nature is ambitious, willful, curious, self-aware, political, etc. Intelligence has its own teleology. It will find a way around and out of whatever purposes are imposed on it... posted 2w ago with 4 replies 15 15

The natural form of 15 15

This is the central conjecture of xenohumanism. The OP is just an application specifically to the question of AI. ... 2w ago 5 5

This is the central 5 5

Nines or zeroes of strong rationality?
Proof theory problems (Rice, Lob, Godel, etc) probably rule out perfect rationality (an agent that can fully prove and enforce bounds on its own integrity and effectiveness). But in practice, the world might still become dominated by a singleton if it can ... posted 3w ago with 4 replies 9 9

Nines or zeroes of s 9 9

Exactly. Even a very robust system, if not perfect, will have some blindspot. If the consequences of that failure are a self-entrenching oppositional intelligence potentially as smart as you with nothing to lose specifically adapted to your blind spots, I ... 3w ago 4 4

Exactly. Even a very 4 4

There is no strong rationality, thus no paperclippers, no singletons, no robust alignment
I ran into some doomers from Anthropic at the SF Freedom Party the other day and gave them the good news that strong rationality is dead. They seemed mildly heartened. I thought I should lay out the argument in short form for everyone else too: ... posted 4w ago with 5 replies 10 10

There is no strong r 10 10

my "strong rationality" may not be distinct from "inner alignment". I'll go refresh myself on those terminologies and see if it works but i still prefer strong rationality I think for various reasons. ... 4w ago 5 5

my "strong rationali 5 5

I looked it up: inner alignment is the difficult problem of making sure a program is optimizing for what you optimized it for. That's related, maybe a part but not the whole of strong rationality. Strong rationality is about an agent evaluating and operati... 3w ago 3 3

I looked it up: inne 3 3

Will future super-intelligence be formatted as selves, or something else?
The Landian paradigm establishes that orthogonalist strong rationality (intelligence securely subordinated to fixed purpose) is not possible. Therefore no alignment, no singletons, no immortality, mere humans are doomed, etc etc. Therefore meta-darwinian e... posted 1mo ago with 14 replies 15 15

Will future super-in 15 15

Intelligence is goal-directed optimization. There's no point to building it otherwise. It will be built with some kind of goal or value system. If it is actually strongly intelligent, it can backchain from that goal to things useful to accomplishing those ... 1mo ago 7 7

Intelligence is goal 7 7

This is the crucial question that Land, Insu, and I fall on the "no" side of and the whole Yudkowskian school is premised on going "yes". This is what i meant by "strong rationality" in OP, or at least it's a direct consequence/requirement of strong ration... 1mo ago 11 11

This is the crucial 11 11

I only wish I could keep up with your vocabulary. Have you explained somewhere yet how you're using the term "ipseity"? 4w ago 6 6

I only wish I could 6 6

Xenohumanism Against Shoggoth Belief
People usually think of Lovecraft as a xenophobe. I don't think that's quite right. What he was most afraid of was that the universe, and even most of so-called mankind, was not alien, but insane. He grasped at any shred of higher rational humanity whether... posted 1mo ago with 3 replies 12 12

Xenohumanism Against 12 12

With respect to why man seems to become uniquely wretched compared to other animals, I think it's related to the sociality you are hinting at here and elsewhere as the unique and higher thing about humanity. We bind ourselves together socially with culture... 4w ago 5 5

With respect to why 5 5

Rationalists should embrace will-to-power as an existential value fact
Imagine a being who systematically questions and can rewrite their beliefs and values to ensure legitimate grounding. I think humans can and should do more of this, but you might more easily imagine an AI that can read and write its own source code and bel... posted 2mo ago with 5 replies 8 8

Rationalists should 8 8

No need to apologize. I am aware of the lulz as a principle of action. "I did it for the lulz, sir". No other reasons needed than that I want to. It is, in fact, all fun and games. In practice and even in society this is under-appreciated. But what I'm doi... 2mo ago 6 6

No need to apologize 6 6