diff --git a/becoming_stronger.tex b/becoming_stronger.tex index 007e178..bf10384 100644 --- a/becoming_stronger.tex +++ b/becoming_stronger.tex @@ -73,11 +73,11 @@ \part{Becoming Stronger} { Importantly, this philosophical disagreement shouldn't be conflated with the distinction between -Bayesian and frequentist data analysis methods, which can both be +Bayes\-ian and frequentist data analysis methods, which can both be useful when employed correctly. Bayesian statistical tools have become cheaper to use since the 1980s, and their informativeness, intuitiveness, and generality have come to be more widely appreciated, -resulting in ``Bayesian +resulting in ``Bayes\-ian revolutions'' in many sciences. However, traditional frequentist methods remain more popular, and in some contexts they are still clearly superior to Bayesian approaches. @@ -307,7 +307,7 @@ \chapter{Yudkowsky's Coming of Age} to superintelligence.} { - (How my views on intelligence have changed since then \ldots + (How my views on intelligence have changed since then\,\ldots let's see: When I think of poor hands dealt to humans, these days, I think first of death and old age. Everyone's got to have some intelligence level or @@ -471,7 +471,7 @@ \chapter{Yudkowsky's Coming of Age} { When you blank out all the wrong conclusions and wrong justifications, and just ask what that belief led the young Eliezer to -actually \textit{do \ldots}} +actually \textit{do\,\ldots}} { Then the belief that Artificial Intelligence was sick and that the @@ -713,7 +713,7 @@ \chapter{Yudkowsky's Coming of Age} { It seems so strange, looking back, to think that there was a time when I thought that only individual lives were at stake in the future. -What a profoundly friendlier world that was to live in \ldots though +What a profoundly friendlier world that was to live in\,\ldots though it's not as if I were thinking that at the time. I didn't \textit{reject} the possibility so much as \textit{manage to never see it in the first place.} Once the topic @@ -728,10 +728,9 @@ \chapter{Yudkowsky's Coming of Age} Rationalist, as such things went. I knew hypotheses had to be testable, I knew that rationalization was not a permitted mental operation, I knew how to play Rationalist's Taboo, I was obsessed -with self-awareness \ldots I didn't quite understand the -concept of ``mysterious answers'' -\ldots and no Bayes or Kahneman at all. But a sharp Traditional -Rationalist, far above average \ldots So what? Nature +with self-awareness\,\ldots I didn't quite understand the +concept of ``mysterious answers''\,\ldots and no Bayes or Kahneman at all. But a sharp Traditional +Rationalist, far above average\,\ldots So what? Nature isn't grading us on a curve. One step of departure from the Way, one shove of undue influence on your thought processes, can repeal all other protections.} @@ -787,7 +786,7 @@ \chapter{Yudkowsky's Coming of Age} thought of human extinction.''} { - And then \ldots} + And then\,\ldots} { I didn't declare a Halt, Melt, and Catch Fire. I @@ -980,7 +979,7 @@ \chapter{Yudkowsky's Coming of Age} { There speaks the sheer folly of callow youth; the rashness of an ignorance so abysmal as to be possible only to one of your ephemeral -race \ldots} +race\,\ldots} {\raggedleft {}---Gharlane of Eddore\footnote{Edward Elmer Smith, \textit{Second Stage Lensmen} (Old Earth @@ -1070,7 +1069,7 @@ \chapter{Yudkowsky's Coming of Age} meaningless'' corresponded to utility = 0. But of course the argument works equally well with utility = 100, so that if everything is meaningful but it is all \textit{equally} meaningful, -that should fall out too \ldots Certainly I wasn't then +that should fall out too\,\ldots Certainly I wasn't then thinking of a utility function as an affine structure in preferences. I was thinking of ``utility'' as an absolute level of inherent value.} @@ -1083,7 +1082,7 @@ \chapter{Yudkowsky's Coming of Age} think to explicitly note, that a logic that compels an arbitrary mind to do something is exactly the same as that which human beings mean and refer to when they utter the word -``right'' \ldots} +``right''\,\ldots} { But now I'm trying to count the ways, and if @@ -1152,7 +1151,7 @@ \chapter{Yudkowsky's Coming of Age} And with the intelligence explosion at stake, I thought I just had to proceed at all speed using the best concepts I could wield at the time, not pause and shut down everything while I looked for a perfect -definition that so many others had screwed up \ldots} +definition that so many others had screwed up\,\ldots} { No.} @@ -1177,7 +1176,7 @@ \chapter{Yudkowsky's Coming of Age} { Maybe Eliezer\textsubscript{1997} couldn't have conjured the correct model out of thin air. (Though who knows what -would have happened, if he'd really tried \ldots) And it +would have happened, if he'd really tried\,\ldots) And it wouldn't have been prudent for him to stop thinking entirely, until rigor suddenly popped out of nowhere.} @@ -1267,7 +1266,7 @@ \chapter{Yudkowsky's Coming of Age} with quantum mechanics, maybe with a dose of tiny closed timelike curves from out of General Relativity; temporal paradoxes might have some of the same irreducibility properties that consciousness seems to -demand \ldots} +demand\,\ldots} { Et cetera, ad nauseam. You may begin to perceive, in the arc of my @@ -1359,7 +1358,7 @@ \chapter{Yudkowsky's Coming of Age} { {}---with a small, small question; a single discordant note; one -tiny lonely thought \ldots} +tiny lonely thought\,\ldots} { As our story starts, we advance three years to @@ -1571,7 +1570,7 @@ \chapter{Yudkowsky's Coming of Age} tokens don't really mean anything, et cetera. These injunctions prevent him from falling into some of the initial traps, the ones that I've seen consume other novices on their -own first steps into the Friendly AI problem \ldots though technically +own first steps into the Friendly AI problem\,\ldots though technically this was my \textit{second} step; I well and truly failed on my first.} { @@ -1619,7 +1618,7 @@ \chapter{Yudkowsky's Coming of Age} tend to matter a lot less to Nature than they do to ourselves and our friends. If your actions don't look good when they're stripped of all their justifications and -presented as mere brute facts \ldots then maybe you should re-examine +presented as mere brute facts\,\ldots then maybe you should re-examine them.} { @@ -1636,10 +1635,10 @@ \chapter{Yudkowsky's Coming of Age} highest priority in your inbox. Sometimes the shattering truth first presents itself to you as a small, small question; a single discordant note; one tiny lonely thought, that you could dismiss with one easy -effortless touch \ldots} +effortless touch\,\ldots} { - \ldots and so, over succeeding years, understanding begins to dawn +\ldots and so, over succeeding years, understanding begins to dawn on that past Eliezer, slowly. That Sun rose slower than it could have risen.} @@ -1668,7 +1667,7 @@ \chapter{Yudkowsky's Coming of Age} making Eliezer\textsubscript{1997}'s strategy \textit{even better} by including a \textit{contingency} plan for ``the unlikely event that life turns out to be -meaningless'' \ldots} +meaningless''\,\ldots} { \ldots which means that Eliezer\textsubscript{2001} now has a line @@ -1760,7 +1759,7 @@ \chapter{Yudkowsky's Coming of Age} { Well, Eliezer\textsubscript{2001} did at least give up on his 1999 idea of an open-source AI Manhattan Project using self-modifying -heuristic soup, but overall \ldots} +heuristic soup, but overall\,\ldots} { Overall, he'd previously wanted to charge in, guns @@ -1791,7 +1790,7 @@ \chapter{Yudkowsky's Coming of Age} changes might be in order.} { - Instead, there are all these little opinion shifts \ldots that give + Instead, there are all these little opinion shifts\,\ldots that give you a chance to repair the \textit{arguments} for your strategies; to shift the justification a little, but keep the ``basic idea'' in place. Small shocks that the system can @@ -1946,7 +1945,7 @@ \chapter{Yudkowsky's Coming of Age} effect---that narrowly constrained the space of possible outcomes. (I can't tell you any more than that; it would be a spoiler, if I ever finished the story. Just see the essay on Outcome -Pumps.) It was ``just a story,'' and +Pumps, page \pageref{outcome_pump}.) It was ``just a story,'' and so I was free to play with the idea and elaborate it out logically: $C$ was constrained to happen, therefore $B$ (in the past) was constrained to happen, therefore $A$ (which led to $B$) was constrained to happen.} @@ -2049,7 +2048,7 @@ \chapter{Yudkowsky's Coming of Age} see \textit{what my old design really did}, to the extent it was coherent enough to be talked about. Roughly, it would have converted its future light cone into generic tools---computers without programs -to run, stored energy without a use \ldots} +to run, stored energy without a use\,\ldots} { \ldots how on Earth had I, the fine and practiced rationalist---how @@ -2075,7 +2074,7 @@ \chapter{Yudkowsky's Coming of Age} \begin{quote} { - Wow \ldots it's like Jaynes is a thousand-year-old + Wow\,\ldots it's like Jaynes is a thousand-year-old vampire.} \end{quote} @@ -2127,8 +2126,7 @@ \chapter{Yudkowsky's Coming of Age} { Mike shook his head. ``Sorry,'' he said, sounding somewhat awkward, -``it's just that Jaynes is -\ldots''} +``it's just that Jaynes is\,\ldots''} { ``No, I know,'' I said. I @@ -2188,7 +2186,7 @@ \chapter{Yudkowsky's Coming of Age} wouldn't do so well on AI research.} { - Or \ldots} + Or\,\ldots} { \ldots or I'm strictly dumber than Conway, @@ -2241,7 +2239,7 @@ \chapter{Yudkowsky's Coming of Age} field.''} { - Because I do know \ldots that's not how it works.} + Because I do know\,\ldots that's not how it works.} \myendsectiontext @@ -2387,7 +2385,7 @@ \chapter{Yudkowsky's Coming of Age} Was there more to that reluctance than just loss of status, in my case? Eliezer\textsubscript{2001} might also have flinched away from slowing his perceived forward momentum into the intelligence explosion, -which was so right and so necessary \ldots} +which was so right and so necessary\,\ldots} { But mostly, I think I flinched away from not being able to say, @@ -2665,7 +2663,7 @@ \chapter{Yudkowsky's Coming of Age} { What if you build your own simulated universe? The classic example of a simulated universe is Conway's Game of Life. I do -urge you to investigate Life if you've never played +urge you to investigate Life\footnote{\url{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conway\%27s_Game_of_Life}} if you've never played it---it's important for comprehending the notion of ``physical law.'' Conway's Life has been proven Turing-complete, so it @@ -2881,7 +2879,7 @@ \chapter{Yudkowsky's Coming of Age} annihilation---and a 10-second rejection of the silly idea can destroy someone's soul? Can it be that a computer programmer who signs a few papers and buys a life-insurance policy continues into -the far future, while Einstein rots in a grave? We can be sure of one +the far future, while Einstein rots in a grave?\footnote{Edit 2018: Not all of Einstein is buried, see \url{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Einstein\%27s_brain}} We can be sure of one thing: God wouldn't allow it. Anything that ridiculous and disproportionate would be ruled out. It would make a mockery of the Divine Plan---a mockery of the \textit{strong reasons} why things must @@ -2895,7 +2893,7 @@ \chapter{Yudkowsky's Coming of Age} sense and depend proportionally on people's choices---who will never permit absolute horror---who does not always intervene, but who at least prohibits universes wrenched -\textit{completely} off their track \ldots to imagine all this, but also +\textit{completely} off their track\,\ldots to imagine all this, but also imagine that \textit{you}, yourself, live in a what-if world of pure mathematics---a world beyond the reach of God, an utterly unprotected world where anything at all can happen.} @@ -2909,7 +2907,7 @@ \chapter{Yudkowsky's Coming of Age} write a check to an existential-risk-mitigation agency now and then. And wear a seat belt and get health insurance and all those other dreary necessary things that can destroy your life if you miss that one -step \ldots but aside from that, if you want to be happy, meditating on +step\,\ldots but aside from that, if you want to be happy, meditating on the fragility of life isn't going to help.} { @@ -3416,7 +3414,7 @@ \chapter{Challenging the Difficult} Each year on Yom Kippur, an Orthodox Jew recites a litany which begins \textit{Ashamnu, bagadnu, gazalnu, dibarnu dofi}, and goes on through the entire Hebrew alphabet: \textit{We have acted shamefully, -we have betrayed, we have stolen, we have slandered \ldots}} +we have betrayed, we have stolen, we have slandered\,\ldots}} { As you pronounce each word, you strike yourself over the heart in @@ -3435,8 +3433,7 @@ \chapter{Challenging the Difficult} The \textit{Ashamnu} bears a remarkable resemblance to the notion that the way of rationality is to beat your fist against your heart and say, ``We are all biased, we are all irrational, we -are not fully informed, we are overconfident, we are poorly calibrated -\ldots''} +are not fully informed, we are overconfident, we are poorly calibrated\,\ldots''} { Fine. Now tell me how you plan to become \textit{less} biased, @@ -3568,7 +3565,7 @@ \chapter{Challenging the Difficult} No! Try not! Do, or do not. There is no try.} {\raggedleft - {}---Yoda + {}---Yoda, The Empire Strikes Back \par} \end{quote} @@ -3689,7 +3686,7 @@ \chapter{Challenging the Difficult} You have been asking what you could do in the great events that are now stirring, and have found that you could do nothing. But that is because your suffering has caused you to phrase the question in the -wrong way \ldots Instead of asking what you could do, you ought to have +wrong way\,\ldots Instead of asking what you could do, you ought to have been asking what needs to be done.} {\raggedleft @@ -3766,7 +3763,7 @@ \chapter{Challenging the Difficult} found.} {\raggedleft - {}---John McCarthy + {}---John McCarthy\footnote{The Sayings of John McCarthy, \url{http://www-formal.stanford.edu/jmc/sayings.html}} \par} \end{quote} @@ -3808,17 +3805,16 @@ \chapter{Challenging the Difficult} the ship sinks again.}} { - Mark Hamill: ``Um, George -\ldots''} + Mark Hamill: ``Um, George\,\ldots''} { George Lucas: ``What is it now?''} { - Mark: ``So \ldots according to the script, next I + Mark: ``So\,\ldots according to the script, next I say, `I can't. It's too -big.'''} +big.'\,''} { George: ``That's @@ -4021,7 +4017,7 @@ \chapter{Challenging the Difficult} said, ``it would take a Manhattan Project and thirty years,'' so for a while we were considering a new dot-com startup instead, to create the funding to get \textit{real} -work done on AI \ldots} +work done on AI\,\ldots} { A year or two later, after I'd heard about this @@ -4036,7 +4032,7 @@ \chapter{Challenging the Difficult} { But even so, I went from ``There's nothing I can do about it -now'' to ``Hm \ldots maybe +now'' to ``Hm\,\ldots maybe there's an incremental path through open-source development, if the initial versions are useful to enough people.''} @@ -4622,11 +4618,11 @@ \chapter{Challenging the Difficult} resolve to believe whatever you like, as strongly as you like, as far in advance as you like.'' And I added, ``One of the conditions of the test is that neither of -us reveal what went on inside \ldots In the perhaps unlikely event that +us reveal what went on inside\,\ldots In the perhaps unlikely event that I win, I don't want to deal with future `AI box' arguers saying, `Well, but \textit{I} would have done it -differently.'''} +differently.'\,''} { Did I win? Why yes, I did.} @@ -4672,8 +4668,7 @@ \chapter{Challenging the Difficult} { ``It seems we are talking some serious psychology -here. Like Asimov's Second Foundation level stuff -\ldots''} +here. Like Asimov's Second Foundation level stuff\,\ldots''} { ``I don't really see why anyone @@ -4686,7 +4681,7 @@ \chapter{Challenging the Difficult} { It's little moments like these that keep me going. -But anyway \ldots} +But anyway\,\ldots} { Here are these folks who look at the AI-Box Experiment, and find @@ -4984,7 +4979,7 @@ \chapter{Challenging the Difficult} { Oh, dear. Now I feel obliged to say \textit{something}, but all the original reasons against discussing the AI-Box experiment are still -in force \ldots} +in force\,\ldots} { All right, this much of a hint:} @@ -5162,7 +5157,7 @@ \chapter{Challenging the Difficult} sorrow in those inscrutable ancient eyes.} { - ``Sen \ldots sei,'' Taji + ``Sen\,\ldots sei,'' Taji started, faltering as that bright anticipation stumbled over Jeffreyssai's return look. ``What's next?''} @@ -5190,7 +5185,7 @@ \chapter{Challenging the Difficult} important thing. That the rhythm at the center of everything is missing and astray. I know that you will harm yourself in the course of trying to use what I taught; so that \textit{I}, personally, will have shaped, -in some fashion unknown to me, the very knife that will cut you \ldots} +in some fashion unknown to me, the very knife that will cut you\,\ldots} { ``\ldots that's the hell of being @@ -5354,7 +5349,7 @@ \chapter{Challenging the Difficult} ``No, wait, I---'' Hiriwa fell silent. In the mirrored tunnel, the fractured reflections of Jeffreyssai were already fading. She shook her head. -``Never \ldots mind, then.''} +``Never\,\ldots mind, then.''} { There was a brief, uncomfortable silence, as the five of them @@ -5373,8 +5368,7 @@ \chapter{Challenging the Difficult} you're interested.''} { - Taji coughed. ``I suppose I should go back and -\ldots pack my things \ldots''} + Taji coughed. ``I suppose I should go back and\,\ldots pack my things\,\ldots''} { ``I'm already @@ -5458,7 +5452,7 @@ \chapter{Challenging the Difficult} the Competitive Conspiracy, then to the \textit{beisutsukai.}} { - And now \ldots} + And now\,\ldots} { Now he felt more lost than ever.} @@ -5470,7 +5464,7 @@ \chapter{Challenging the Difficult} { The passionate intensity that he'd come to associate with his Mistress, or with Jeffreyssai, or the other figures -of power that he'd met \ldots a life of pursuing small +of power that he'd met\,\ldots a life of pursuing small pleasures seemed to pale in comparison, next to that.} { @@ -5478,8 +5472,8 @@ \chapter{Challenging the Difficult} waited for him (in all probability, assuming she hadn't gotten bored with her life and run away). But to merely return, and then drift aimlessly, waiting to fall into someone -else's web of intrigue \ldots no. That -didn't seem like \ldots \textit{enough.}} +else's web of intrigue\,\ldots no. That +didn't seem like\,\ldots \textit{enough.}} { Brennan plucked a blade of grass from the ground and stared at it, @@ -5493,7 +5487,7 @@ \chapter{Challenging the Difficult} { Well, decision theory \textit{did} require that your utility -function be consistent, but \ldots} +function be consistent, but\,\ldots} { \textit{If the beisutsukai knew what I wanted, would they even @@ -5520,7 +5514,7 @@ \chapter{Challenging the Difficult} { And when he blanked out the old thoughts and tried to see the -problem as though for the first time \ldots} +problem as though for the first time\,\ldots} { \ldots nothing much came to mind.} @@ -5563,8 +5557,8 @@ \chapter{Challenging the Difficult} it like a sharp tinge on his tongue.} { - It just hadn't come to mind earlier, because \ldots -if he acknowledged his desire explicitly \ldots then he also had to see + It just hadn't come to mind earlier, because\,\ldots +if he acknowledged his desire explicitly\,\ldots then he also had to see that it was \textit{difficult}. High, high, above him. Far out of his reach. ``Impossible'' was the word that came to mind, though it was not, of course, impossible.} @@ -5587,7 +5581,7 @@ \chapter{Challenging the Difficult} already known.} { - \textit{One of you at least seems likely to come back \ldots}} + \textit{One of you at least seems likely to come back\,\ldots}} { Brennan had thought he was talking about Taji. Taji had probably @@ -5683,47 +5677,47 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} \begin{itemize} \item { - Affective Death Spirals---plenty of non-supernaturalist examples.} + Affective Death Spirals (page \pageref{affective_death_spirals})---plenty of non-supernaturalist examples (like page \pageref{guardians_of_ayn_rand}).} \item { - How to avoid cached thoughts and fake wisdom; the pressure of -conformity.} + How to avoid cached thoughts (page \pageref{cached_thoughts}) and fake wisdom (page \pageref{seem_and_be_deep}); the pressure of +conformity (page \pageref{asch_conformity_experiment}).} \item { - Evidence and Occam's Razor---the rules of + Evidence (page \pageref{what_is_evidence}) and Occam's Razor (page \pageref{occams_razor})---the rules of probability.} \item { - The Bottom Line / Engines of Cognition---the causal reasons why + The Bottom Line (page \pageref{the_bottom_line}) / Engines of Cognition (page \pageref{engines_of_cognition})---the causal reasons why Reason works.} \item { - Mysterious Answers to Mysterious Questions---and the whole -associated sequence, like making beliefs pay rent and curiosity -stoppers---have excellent historical examples in vitalism and -phlogiston.} + Mysterious Answers to Mysterious Questions (page \pageref{matmq})---and the whole +associated sequence, like making beliefs pay rent (page \pageref{making_beliefs_pay_rent}) and curiosity +stoppers (page \pageref{semantic_stopsigns})---have excellent historical examples in vitalism and +phlogiston (page \pageref{fake_causality}).} \item { - Non-existence of ontologically fundamental mental things---apply -the Mind Projection Fallacy to probability, move on to reductionism -versus holism, then brains and cognitive science.} + Non-existence of ontologically fundamental mental things (page \pageref{excluding_the_supernatural})---apply +the Mind Projection Fallacy (page \pageref{mind_projection_fallacy}) to probability (page \pageref{probability_in_mind}), move on to reductionism (page \pageref{reductionism}) +versus holism (page \pageref{futility_of_emergence}), then brains (page \pageref{brain_breakthrough}) and cognitive science (page \pageref{angry_atoms}).} \item { - The many sub-arts of Crisis of Faith---though + The many sub-arts of Crisis of Faith (page \pageref{crisis_of_faith})---though you'd better find something else to call this ultimate high master-level technique of \textit{actually updating on evidence}.} \item { - Dark Side Epistemology---teaching this with no mention of religion + Dark Side Epistemology (page \pageref{dark_side_epistemology})---teaching this with no mention of religion would be hard, but perhaps you could videotape the interrogation of some snake-oil sales agent as your real-world example.} \item { - Fun Theory{}---teach as a literary theory of utopian fiction, + Fun Theory\footnote{\url{http://lesswrong.com/lw/xy/the_fun_theory_sequence/}} (page \pageref{high_challenge})---teach as a literary theory of utopian fiction, without the direct application to theodicy.} \item { - Joy in the Merely Real, naturalistic metaethics, et cetera, et + Joy in the Merely Real (page \pageref{joy_in_the_merely_real}), naturalistic metaethics, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, and so on.} \end{itemize} @@ -5738,7 +5732,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} { We now know this person is not applying any \textit{technical, -explicit} understanding of \ldots} +explicit} understanding of\,\ldots} \begin{itemize} \item { @@ -5781,7 +5775,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} { When you consider it---these are all rather \textit{basic} matters of study, as such things go. A quick introduction to \textit{all} of -them (well, except naturalistic metaethics) would be \ldots a +them (well, except naturalistic metaethics) would be\,\ldots a four-credit undergraduate course with no prerequisites?} { @@ -5871,7 +5865,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} their arguments---} { - Yet even that \ldots isn't really a whole lot of + Yet even that\,\ldots isn't really a whole lot of rationality either.} { @@ -6078,7 +6072,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} \item { The art, the dojo, and the sensei are seen as sacred. ``Having red toe-nails in the dojo is like going to -church in a mini-skirt and halter-top \ldots The students of other +church in a mini-skirt and halter-top\,\ldots The students of other martial arts are talked about like they are practicing the wrong religion.''} @@ -6100,21 +6094,20 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} it's not just running, or other physical activities, where history is kept in its place; the same is true in any well-developed area of study. It is not considered disrespectful for a -physicist to say that Isaac Newton's theories are false -\ldots'' (Sound familiar?)} +physicist to say that Isaac Newton's theories are false\,\ldots'' (Sound familiar?)} \item { ``We martial artists struggle with a kind of -poverty---data-poverty---which makes our beliefs hard to test \ldots +poverty---data-poverty---which makes our beliefs hard to test\,\ldots Unless you're unfortunate enough to be fighting a hand-to-hand war you cannot \textit{check} to see how much force and -exactly which angle a neck-break requires \ldots''} +exactly which angle a neck-break requires\,\ldots''} \item { ``If you can't test the effectiveness of a technique, then it is hard to test methods for improving the technique. Should you practice your nukite in the air, or -will that just encourage you to overextend? \ldots Our inability to test +will that just encourage you to overextend?\,\ldots Our inability to test our fighting methods restricts our ability to test our training methods.''} @@ -6124,7 +6117,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} some perfectly respectable disciplines, including theoretical physics---the problem is that we live in poverty but continue to act as though we live in luxury, as though we can safely afford to believe -whatever we're told \ldots'' +whatever we're told\,\ldots'' (\textbf{+10!})} \end{itemize} @@ -6150,7 +6143,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} master of a school who was convinced he could use \textit{ki} techniques. His students would actually fall over when he used ki attacks, a strange and remarkable and frightening case of self-hypnosis -or \textit{something \ldots} and the master goes up against a skeptic +or \textit{something\,\ldots} and the master goes up against a skeptic and of course gets pounded completely into the floor.} { @@ -6189,7 +6182,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} will reference more than three hundred empirical investigations and summaries of investigations---has found that these professionals' claims to superior intuitive insight, -understanding, and skill as therapists are simply invalid \ldots} +understanding, and skill as therapists are simply invalid\,\ldots} \end{quote} { @@ -6234,7 +6227,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} ``schools,'' of traditions of practice, in psychotherapy; despite---or perhaps \textit{because} of---the lack of any experiments showing that one school was better -than another \ldots} +than another\,\ldots} { I should really write more some other time on all the sad things @@ -6611,7 +6604,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} { And presumably \textit{we} would not go so far as to dirty our -hands with such \ldots} +hands with such\,\ldots} { Therefore, as a group, the Light Side will always be divided and @@ -6700,8 +6693,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} used in slide 14 using a logarithmic scale; they quote Tufte on \textit{The Visual Display of Quantitative Information}. The second questioner disputes a claim made in slide 3. The third questioner -suggests an alternative hypothesis that seems to explain the same data -\ldots} +suggests an alternative hypothesis that seems to explain the same data\,\ldots} { Perfectly normal, right? Now imagine that you're @@ -6997,7 +6989,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} Just don't demand that \textit{everyone} you work with be equally intolerant of behavior like that. Forgive your friends if some of them suggest that maybe Group $X$ wasn't so -awful after all \ldots} +awful after all\,\ldots} \myendsectiontext @@ -7034,7 +7026,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} { There's an analogue of the Ultimatum Game in group -coordination. (Has it been studied? I'd hope so \ldots) +coordination. (Has it been studied? I'd hope so\,\ldots) Let's say there's a common project---in fact, let's say that it's an altruistic common project, aimed at helping mugging victims in Canada, \textit{or @@ -7062,11 +7054,11 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} \textit{motive} would they have to change their malinvesting ways?} { - Well \ldots Okay, look. Possibly because we're out -of the ancestral environment where everyone knows everyone else \ldots + Well\,\ldots Okay, look. Possibly because we're out +of the ancestral environment where everyone knows everyone else\,\ldots and possibly because the nonconformist crowd tries to repudiate \textit{normal} group-cohering forces like conformity and -leader-worship \ldots} +leader-worship\,\ldots} { \ldots It seems to me that people in the atheist / libertarian / @@ -7150,7 +7142,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} blackmail the group into getting it done.} { - And if the issue \textit{is} worth that much to you \ldots then by + And if the issue \textit{is} worth that much to you\,\ldots then by all means, join the group and do whatever it takes to get things fixed up.} @@ -7170,7 +7162,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} own problems.} { - But \textit{usually} \ldots I observe that people underestimate the + But \textit{usually}\,\ldots I observe that people underestimate the costs of what they ask for, or perhaps just act on instinct, and set their prices \textit{way way way} too high. If the nonconformist crowd ever wants to get anything done together, we need to move in the @@ -7188,8 +7180,8 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} { Of course this often isn't really about fonts. It may be about laziness, akrasia, or hidden rejections. But in terms of -group norms \ldots in terms of what sort of public statements we -respect, and which excuses we publicly scorn \ldots we probably +group norms\,\ldots in terms of what sort of public statements we +respect, and which excuses we publicly scorn\,\ldots we probably \textit{do} want to encourage a group norm of:} { @@ -7246,7 +7238,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} { To refrain from doing damaging things \textit{is} a true victory -for a rationalist \ldots} +for a rationalist\,\ldots} { Unless it is your \textit{only} victory, in which case it seems a @@ -7254,14 +7246,13 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} { If you \textit{discount all harm} done by the Catholic Church, and -look \textit{only} at the good \ldots then does the average Catholic do +look \textit{only} at the good\,\ldots then does the average Catholic do more \textit{gross} good than the average atheist, just by virtue of being more active?} { Perhaps if you are wiser but less motivated, you can search out -interventions of high efficiency and purchase utilons on the cheap -\ldots But there are few of us who \textit{really} do that, as opposed +interventions of high efficiency and purchase utilons on the cheap\,\ldots But there are few of us who \textit{really} do that, as opposed to planning to do it someday.} { @@ -7294,15 +7285,14 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} Even the fear of hell is not a perfect motivator. Human beings are not given so much slack on evolution's leash; we can resist motivation for a short time, but then we run out of mental -energy (hat tip: infotropism). Even believing that +energy (hat tip: infotropism\footnote{\url{http://lesswrong.com/lw/52/why_i_fail_to_act_rationally/\#3tm}}). Even believing that you'll go to hell does not change this brute fact about brain circuitry. So the religious sin, and then are tormented by thoughts of going to hell, in much the same way that smokers reproach themselves for being unable to quit.} { - If a group of rationalists cared \textit{a lot} about something -\ldots who says they wouldn't be able to match the real, + If a group of rationalists cared \textit{a lot} about something\,\ldots who says they wouldn't be able to match the real, de-facto output of a believing Catholic? The stakes might not be ``infinite'' happiness or ``eternal'' damnation, but of course @@ -7332,7 +7322,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} God's wrath?} { - Still \ldots that's a further-future speculation + Still\,\ldots that's a further-future speculation that it might be possible to develop an art that doesn't presently exist. It's not a technique I can use right now. I present it just to illustrate the idea @@ -7367,7 +7357,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} might be worth trying.} { - Meanwhile \ldots in the short term, we're stuck + Meanwhile\,\ldots in the short term, we're stuck fighting akrasia mostly without the reinforcing physical presense of other people who care. I want to say something like ``This is difficult, but it \textit{can} be @@ -7381,7 +7371,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} the same task---just for purposes of motivation.} { - In the absence of that \ldots} + In the absence of that\,\ldots} { We could try for a group norm of being openly allowed---nay, @@ -7440,10 +7430,10 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} stay with their neighbors at the church, and their family and friends? How many would convert to atheism, if all those others deconverted, and \textit{that} were the price of staying in the community and keeping -its respect? I would guess \ldots probably quite a lot.} +its respect? I would guess\,\ldots probably quite a lot.} { - In truth \ldots this is probably something I don't + In truth\,\ldots this is probably something I don't understand all that well, myself. ``Brownies and babysitting'' were the first two things that came to mind. Do churches lend helping hands in emergencies? Or just a shoulder @@ -7469,7 +7459,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} that some people are fortunate to receive community from their workplaces: friendly coworkers who bake brownies for the office, whose teenagers can be safely hired for babysitting, and maybe even help in -times of catastrophe \ldots ? But certainly not everyone is lucky enough +times of catastrophe\,\ldots ? But certainly not everyone is lucky enough to find a community at the office.} { @@ -7525,7 +7515,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} I do confess that when walking past the churches of my city, my main thought is, ``These buildings look really, really expensive, and there are too many of them.'' If you -were doing it over from scratch \ldots then you might have a big +were doing it over from scratch\,\ldots then you might have a big building that could be used for the occasional wedding, but it would be time-shared for different communities meeting at different times on the weekend, and it would also have a nice large video display that could @@ -7540,7 +7530,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} important function? Possibly \textit{not}; dragging explicit finance into things changes their character oddly. Conversely, maybe keeping current on some insurance policies should be a \textit{requirement} for -membership, lest you rely \textit{too much} on the community \ldots But +membership, lest you rely \textit{too much} on the community\,\ldots But again, to the extent that churches provide community, they're trying to do it without actually \textit{admitting} that this is nearly all of what people get out of @@ -7593,7 +7583,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} form around the most specific cluster that could support a decent-sized band. If your city doesn't have enough people in it for you to find 50 fellow Linux programmers, you might have to settle for -15 fellow open-source programmers \ldots or in the days when all of this +15 fellow open-source programmers\,\ldots or in the days when all of this is only getting started, 15 fellow rationalists trying to spruce up the Earth in their assorted ways.} @@ -7614,7 +7604,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} fraction of humanity has then gotten so far in their lives.} { - Although \ldots as long as you've got a building + Although\,\ldots as long as you've got a building with a nice large high-resolution screen anyway, I wouldn't mind challenging the idea that all post-adulthood learning has to take place in distant expensive @@ -7660,7 +7650,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} { If the supporters of other causes are enlightened enough to think -similarly \ldots} +similarly\,\ldots} { Then all the causes that benefit from spreading rationality can, @@ -7748,7 +7738,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} { But to the extent that something really is a task you would wish -to see done on behalf of humanity \ldots then invidious comparisons of +to see done on behalf of humanity\,\ldots then invidious comparisons of that project to Your-Favorite-Project may not help your own project as much as you might think. We may need to learn to say, by habit and in nearly all forums, ``Here is \textit{a cool} @@ -7929,7 +7919,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} \mysection{Money: The Unit of Caring} { - Steve Omohundro has suggested a folk theorem to the effect that, + Steve Omohundro has suggested a folk theorem\footnote{\url{http://lesswrong.com/lw/vc/economic_definition_of_intelligence/}} to the effect that, within the interior of any approximately rational self-modifying agent, the marginal benefit of investing additional resources in anything ought to be about equal. Or, to put it a bit more exactly, shifting a @@ -7964,7 +7954,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} kind word for, certainly \textit{wishes} you would appreciate this point, whether or not they've ever said anything out loud. For I have listened to others in the nonprofit world, and I know -that I am not speaking only for myself here \ldots} +that I am not speaking only for myself here\,\ldots} { Many people, when they see something that they think is worth @@ -7981,7 +7971,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} to be a fun-theoretic principle against it.} { - But, well \ldots} + But, well\,\ldots} { There \textit{is} this very, very old puzzle/observation in @@ -8112,7 +8102,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} { There is this very, very old puzzle/observation in economics about the lawyer who spends an hour volunteering at the soup kitchen, instead -of working an extra hour and donating the money to hire someone \ldots} +of working an extra hour and donating the money to hire someone\,\ldots} { If the lawyer needs to work an hour at the soup kitchen to keep @@ -8302,7 +8292,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} who ignore the smoke, and they'll only report it 10\% on the time---even staying in the room until it becomes hazy.\footnote{Bibb Latané and John M. Darley, ``Bystander -`Apathy,''' +`Apathy,'\,'' \textit{American Scientist} 57, no. 2 (1969): 244--268, \url{http://www.jstor.org/stable/27828530}.\comment{1}} } @@ -8320,7 +8310,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} \item { \textit{Pluralistic ignorance}{}---people try to \textit{appear} -calm while looking for cues, and see \ldots that the others appear +calm while looking for cues, and see\,\ldots that the others appear calm.} \end{itemize} @@ -8330,8 +8320,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} \begin{quote} { Very often an emergency is not obviously an emergency. Is the man -lying in the alley a heart-attack victim or a drunk sleeping one off? -\ldots In times of such uncertainty, the natural tendency is to look +lying in the alley a heart-attack victim or a drunk sleeping one off?\,\ldots In times of such uncertainty, the natural tendency is to look around at the actions of others for clues. We can learn from the way the other witnesses are reacting whether the event is or is not an emergency. What is easy to forget, though, is that everybody else @@ -8420,7 +8409,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} { Though I wonder what happens if you know that you're part of a crowd where \textit{everyone} has been -told about the bystander effect \ldots} +told about the bystander effect\,\ldots} \myendsectiontext @@ -8551,7 +8540,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} that old statistic about Wikipedia representing 1/2,000 of the time spent in the US alone on watching television. There's quite a lot of fuel out there, if there were only such a thing as an -effective engine \ldots} +effective engine\,\ldots} \myendsectiontext @@ -8627,8 +8616,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} Ah, and \textit{now} we come to the meat of it.} { - I can't necessarily answer for everyone, but -\ldots} + I can't necessarily answer for everyone, but\,\ldots} { My first reason is that, on a professional basis, I deal with @@ -8785,15 +8773,14 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} { If you don't \textit{prefer} truth to happiness -with false beliefs \ldots} +with false beliefs\,\ldots} { - Well \ldots \textit{and} if you are not doing anything especially -precarious or confusing \ldots and if you are not buying lottery tickets -\ldots and if you're already signed up for cryonics, a + Well\,\ldots \textit{and} if you are not doing anything especially +precarious or confusing\,\ldots and if you are not buying lottery tickets\,\ldots and if you're already signed up for cryonics, a sudden ultra-high-stakes confusing acid test of rationality that illustrates the Black Swan quality of trying to bet on ignorance -\textit{in} ignorance \ldots} +\textit{in} ignorance\,\ldots} { Then it's not \textit{guaranteed} that taking all @@ -8816,7 +8803,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} { Then you're probably not reading this. But if you -are, then, I guess \ldots well \ldots (a) sign up for cryonics, and then +are, then, I guess\,\ldots well\,\ldots (a) sign up for cryonics, and then (b) \textit{stop reading Less Wrong before your illusions collapse! \textsc{Run away}!}} @@ -8923,7 +8910,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} We're used to ``war'' being exploited as an excuse for bad behavior, because in recent US history that pretty much -\textit{is} exactly what it's been used for \ldots} +\textit{is} exactly what it's been used for\,\ldots} { But reversed stupidity is not intelligence. And reversed evil is @@ -8932,7 +8919,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} ``rationalists'' can't prepare themselves for that mental shock, the Barbarians really will win; and the -``rationalists'' \ldots I +``rationalists''\,\ldots I don't want to say, ``deserve to lose.'' But they will have failed that test of their society's existence.} @@ -9042,7 +9029,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} like the example above with AIs changing their own code. Except that if ``be reflectively consistent; do that which you would precommit to do'' is not sufficient motivation for -humans to obey the lottery, then \ldots} +humans to obey the lottery, then\,\ldots} { \ldots well, in advance of the lottery actually running, we can @@ -9083,7 +9070,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} procedure. If there is no proven method better than a captain, then a company of rational soldiers commit to obey the captain, even against their own separate inclinations. And if human beings -aren't that rational \ldots then in advance of the +aren't that rational\,\ldots then in advance of the lottery, the general policy that gives you the highest personal expectation of survival is to shoot soldiers who disobey orders. This is not to say that those who fragged their own officers in Vietnam were @@ -9118,7 +9105,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} think that what we believe about a society of ``people like us'' has some reflection on what we think of ourselves. If you believe that a society of people like you would be -too reasonable to survive in the long run \ldots that's +too reasonable to survive in the long run\,\ldots that's one sort of self-image. And it's a different sort of self-image if you think that a society of people all like you could fight the vicious Evil Barbarians and \textit{win}{}---not just by dint @@ -9153,7 +9140,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} \myendsectiontext -\mysection{Beware of Other{}-Optimizing} +\mysection{Beware of Other-Op\-ti\-miz\-ing} { I've noticed a serious problem in which aspiring @@ -9165,14 +9152,14 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} You read nineteen different webpages advising you about personal improvement---productivity, dieting, saving money. And the writers all sound bright and enthusiastic about Their Method, they tell tales of -how it worked for them and promise \textit{amazing} results \ldots} +how it worked for them and promise \textit{amazing} results\,\ldots} { But most of the advice rings so false as to not even seem worth considering. So you sigh, mournfully pondering the wild, childish enthusiasm that people can seem to work up for just about anything, no matter how silly. Pieces of advice \#4 and \#15 sound interesting, and -you try them, but \ldots they don't \ldots quite \ldots +you try them, but\,\ldots they don't\,\ldots quite\,\ldots well, it fails miserably. The advice was wrong, or you couldn't do it, and either way you're not any better off.} @@ -9199,9 +9186,8 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} straight in the eyes, and tell them how to do it.} { - I, personally, get quite a lot of this. Because you see \ldots when -you've discovered the way that \textit{really works} -\ldots well, you know better by now than to run out and tell your + I, personally, get quite a lot of this. Because you see\,\ldots when +you've discovered the way that \textit{really works}\,\ldots well, you know better by now than to run out and tell your friends and family. But you've got to try telling Eliezer Yudkowsky. He \textit{needs} it, and there's a pretty good chance that \textit{he'll} understand.} @@ -9286,7 +9272,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} other, though I can't seem to locate it now. I have seen a rationalist who did not think he had power, and so did not think he needed to be cautious, who was amazed to learn that he might be -feared \ldots} +feared\,\ldots} { It's even worse when their discovery that works @@ -9342,7 +9328,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} when I'm hit over the head with it.} { - Maybe being pushed on does work \ldots for you. Maybe \textit{you} + Maybe being pushed on does work\,\ldots for you. Maybe \textit{you} don't get sick to the stomach when someone with power over you starts helpfully trying to reorganize your life the correct way. I don't know what makes you tick. In the realm of @@ -9351,7 +9337,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} almost always. I don't possess the deep keys that would tell me \textit{when} and \textit{why} and for \textit{who} a technique works or doesn't work. All I can do is be willing to -accept it when someone tells me it doesn't work \ldots +accept it when someone tells me it doesn't work\,\ldots and go on looking for the deeper generalizations that will hold everywhere, the deeper laws governing both the rule and the exception, waiting to be found, someday.} @@ -9540,7 +9526,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} { You contemplate the matter, feeling more and more lost, and the -very task of estimation begins to feel increasingly futile \ldots} +very task of estimation begins to feel increasingly futile\,\ldots} { And when it comes to the particular questions of @@ -9690,23 +9676,22 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} { Perhaps without there ever being a watershed moment when you deliberately, self-visibly \textit{decide not to try} at some -particular test \ldots you just \ldots. slow \ldots.~. down -\ldots\ldots.} +particular test\,\ldots you just\,\ldots. slow\,\ldots.\,. down\,\ldots\ldots.} { It doesn't seem worthwhile any more, to go on trying to fix one thing when there are a dozen other things that will -still be wrong \ldots} +still be wrong\,\ldots} { There's not enough hope of triumph to -\textit{inspire} you to try \textit{hard} \ldots} +\textit{inspire} you to try \textit{hard}\,\ldots} { When you consider doing any new thing, a dozen questions about your ability at once leap into your mind, and it does not occur to you that you could \textit{answer} the questions by \textit{testing} -yourself \ldots} +yourself\,\ldots} { And having read so much wisdom of human flaws, it seems that the @@ -9804,7 +9789,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} motivated skepticism is bad for you can constitute the whole difference, I suspect, between a smart person who ends up smart and a smart person who ends up stupid. Affective death spirals consume -\textit{many} among the unwary \ldots} +\textit{many} among the unwary\,\ldots} { Yet there is, I think, more \textit{absent} than \textit{present} @@ -9819,11 +9804,11 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} developing better introductory literature, developing better slogans for public relations, establishing common cause with other Enlightenment subtasks, analyzing and addressing the gender imbalance -problem \ldots} +problem\,\ldots} { But those small pieces of rationality that I've -set out \ldots I \textit{hope} \ldots just maybe \ldots} +set out\,\ldots I \textit{hope}\,\ldots just maybe\,\ldots} { I suspect---you could even call it a guess---that there is a @@ -9840,7 +9825,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} to develop the art of thinking; they develop fake answers.} { - When you try to develop part of the human art of thinking \ldots + When you try to develop part of the human art of thinking\,\ldots then you are doing something \textit{not too dissimilar} to what I was doing over in Artificial Intelligence. You will be tempted by fake explanations of the mind, fake accounts of causality, mysterious holy @@ -9871,7 +9856,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} rationality, if they are not already rational.} { - And so instead they \ldots go off and invent Freudian + And so instead they\,\ldots go off and invent Freudian psychoanalysis. Or a new religion. Or something. That's what happens by \textit{default}, when people start thinking about thinking.} @@ -9957,7 +9942,7 @@ \chapter{The Craft and the Community} without success, before this present effort. Earlier I made efforts only in passing, and got, perhaps, as much success as I deserved. Like throwing pebbles in a pond, that generate a few ripples, and then fade -away \ldots This time I put some back into it, and heaved a large rock. +away\,\ldots This time I put some back into it, and heaved a large rock. Time will tell if it was large enough---if I really \textit{disturbed} anyone deeply enough that the waves of the impact will continue under their own motion. Time will tell if I have created anything that moves diff --git a/bibliography.tex b/bibliography.tex index 17d64ab..4564a34 100644 --- a/bibliography.tex +++ b/bibliography.tex @@ -600,7 +600,7 @@ { Imagination Engines, Inc. ``The Imagination -Engine\textsuperscript{®}; or +Engine\textsuperscript{\textregistered}; or Imagitron\textsuperscript{TM}.'' 2011. \url{http://www.imagination-engines.com/ie.htm}.} @@ -637,7 +637,7 @@ Cummings, David S. Brookshire, and William D. Schulze, 1.B:226--235. Experimental Methods for Assessing Environmental Benefits. Totowa, NJ: Rowman \& Allanheld, 1986. -\url{http://yosemite.epa.gov/ee/epa/eerm.nsf/vwAN/EE-0280B-04.pdf/\$file/EE-0280B-04.pdf}.} +\url{http://yosemite.epa.gov/ee/epa/eerm.nsf/vwAN/EE-0280B-04.pdf}.} { Kahneman, Daniel, Ilana Ritov, and David Schkade. @@ -677,7 +677,7 @@ { Keysar, Boaz, and Dale J. Barr. ``Self-Anchoring in Conversation: Why Language Users Do Not Do What They -`Should.''' In +`Should.'\,'' In Gilovich, Griffin, and Kahneman, \textit{Heuristics and Biases}, 150--166.} @@ -741,7 +741,7 @@ { Latané, Bibb, and John M. Darley. ``Bystander -`Apathy.''' +`Apathy.'\,'' \textit{American Scientist} 57, no. 2 (1969): 244--268. \url{http://www.jstor.org/stable/27828530}.} @@ -1228,7 +1228,7 @@ { Uhlmann, Eric Luis, and Geoffrey L. Cohen. -```I think it, therefore +``\,`I think it, therefore it's true': Effects of Self-perceived Objectivity on Hiring Discrimination.'' \textit{Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes} 104, no. @@ -1249,7 +1249,7 @@ { Verhagen, Joachim. -\url{http://web.archive.org/web/20060424082937/\-http://www.nvon.nl/scheik/best/diversen/scijokes/scijokes.txt}. +\url{http://web.archive.org/web/20060424082937/http://www.nvon.nl/scheik/best/diversen/scijokes/scijokes.txt}. Archived version, October 27, 2001.} { diff --git a/change_mind.tex b/change_mind.tex index 1b46084..553e326 100644 --- a/change_mind.tex +++ b/change_mind.tex @@ -5371,6 +5371,7 @@ \chapter{Against Rationalization} \myendsectiontext \mysection{Dark Side Epistemology} +\label{dark_side_epistemology} { If you once tell a lie, the truth is ever after your enemy. } @@ -6833,6 +6834,7 @@ \chapter{Seeing with Fresh Eyes} \bigskip \mysection{Cached Thoughts} +\label{cached_thoughts} { One of the single greatest puzzles about the human brain is how @@ -7762,6 +7764,7 @@ \chapter{Seeing with Fresh Eyes} \bigskip \mysection{How to Seem (and Be) Deep} +\label{seem_and_be_deep} { I recently attended a discussion group whose topic, at that @@ -10564,6 +10567,7 @@ \chapter{Death Spirals} \myendsectiontext \mysection{Guardians of Ayn Rand} +\label{guardians_of_ayn_rand} \begin{quote} { @@ -10982,6 +10986,7 @@ \chapter{Death Spirals} \myendsectiontext \mysection{Asch's Conformity Experiment} +\label{asch_conformity_experiment} \mygraphicss{images/img145.jpg}{0.1} @@ -12800,6 +12805,7 @@ \chapter{Letting Go} \bigskip \mysection{Crisis of Faith} +\label{crisis_of_faith} \begin{quote} { diff --git a/machine_in_ghost.tex b/machine_in_ghost.tex index a3528af..98deeb9 100644 --- a/machine_in_ghost.tex +++ b/machine_in_ghost.tex @@ -4996,6 +4996,7 @@ \chapter{Fragile Purposes} device squeezes the flow of time, pouring probability into some outcomes, draining it from others.} +\label{outcome_pump} { The Outcome Pump is not sentient. It contains a tiny time machine, which resets time \textit{unless} a specified outcome occurs. For diff --git a/map_and_territory.tex b/map_and_territory.tex index bf35501..77654d6 100644 --- a/map_and_territory.tex +++ b/map_and_territory.tex @@ -1532,6 +1532,7 @@ \chapter{Predictably Wrong} \chapter{Fake Beliefs} \mysection{Making Beliefs Pay Rent (in Anticipated Experiences)} +\label{making_beliefs_pay_rent} { Thus begins the ancient parable: } @@ -2966,6 +2967,7 @@ \chapter{Noticing Confusion} \myendsectiontext \mysection{What Is Evidence?} +\label{what_is_evidence} \begin{quote} { @@ -3516,6 +3518,7 @@ \chapter{Noticing Confusion} \myendsectiontext \mysection{Occam's Razor} +\label{occams_razor} { The more complex an explanation is, the more evidence you need @@ -4539,6 +4542,7 @@ \chapter{Mysterious Answers} \myendsectiontext \mysection{Fake Causality} +\label{fake_causality} { Phlogiston was the eighteenth century's answer to @@ -4920,6 +4924,7 @@ \chapter{Mysterious Answers} \myendsectiontext \mysection{Mysterious Answers to Mysterious Questions} +\label{matmq} { Imagine looking at your hand, and knowing nothing of cells, @@ -5091,6 +5096,7 @@ \chapter{Mysterious Answers} \bigskip \mysection{The Futility of Emergence} +\label{futility_of_emergence} { The failures of phlogiston and vitalism are historical hindsight. diff --git a/mere_goodness.tex b/mere_goodness.tex index 513e1da..0415612 100644 --- a/mere_goodness.tex +++ b/mere_goodness.tex @@ -4505,6 +4505,7 @@ \chapter{Value Theory} \myendsectiontext \mysection{High Challenge} +\label{high_challenge} { There's a class of prophecy that runs: diff --git a/mere_reality.tex b/mere_reality.tex index b7f069c..5bed503 100644 --- a/mere_reality.tex +++ b/mere_reality.tex @@ -1291,6 +1291,7 @@ \chapter{Lawful Truth} \myendsectiontext \mysection{The Second Law of Thermodynamics, and Engines of Cognition} +\label{engines_of_cognition} { The First Law of Thermodynamics, better known as Conservation of @@ -2682,6 +2683,7 @@ \chapter{Reductionism 101} \myendsectiontext \mysection{Mind Projection Fallacy} +\label{mind_projection_fallacy} { In the dawn days of science fiction, alien invaders would @@ -2771,6 +2773,7 @@ \chapter{Reductionism 101} \myendsectiontext \mysection{Probability is in the Mind} +\label{probability_in_mind} { In the previous essay I spoke of the Mind Projection Fallacy, @@ -3597,6 +3600,7 @@ \chapter{Reductionism 101} \myendsectiontext \mysection{Reductionism} +\label{reductionism} { Almost one year ago, in April 2007, Matthew C. submitted the @@ -4409,6 +4413,7 @@ \chapter{Reductionism 101} \bigskip \chapter{Joy in the Merely Real} +\label{joy_in_the_merely_real} \mysection{Joy in the Merely Real} @@ -6437,6 +6442,7 @@ \chapter{Physicalism 201} \myendsectiontext \mysection{Angry Atoms} +\label{angry_atoms} { Fundamental physics---quarks 'n' @@ -6926,6 +6932,7 @@ \chapter{Physicalism 201} \bigskip \mysection{Brain Breakthrough! It's Made of Neurons!} +\label{brain_breakthrough} { In an amazing breakthrough, a multinational team of scientists led @@ -10703,6 +10710,7 @@ \chapter{Physicalism 201} \myendsectiontext \mysection{Excluding the Supernatural} +\label{excluding_the_supernatural} { Occasionally, you hear someone claiming that creationism should