Posts

Open phone recommendation for Elon. 2022-11-30T15:20:26.459Z
Must true AI sleep? 2021-10-30T16:47:46.234Z

Comments

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on The Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe: A Partial Summary and Review · 2024-04-17T10:07:07.028Z · LW · GW

Thanks was looking for that link to his resolution of newcombs' paradox.

Too funny! "You are "possessed" by Newcomb's Demon, and whatever self-interest remains to you will make you take the black box only. (Q.E.D.)"

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on The Cognitive-Theoretic Model of the Universe: A Partial Summary and Review · 2024-03-28T09:08:34.023Z · LW · GW

Falsifiable predictions?

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on Good HPMoR scenes / passages? · 2024-03-04T10:47:18.794Z · LW · GW

""The absolute inadequacy of every single institution in the civilization of magical Britain is what happened! You cannot comprehend it, boy!" - Too close to the real world!

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on The case for training frontier AIs on Sumerian-only corpus · 2024-01-15T18:06:46.610Z · LW · GW

How do you translate modern terms line AI into sumerian?

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on Is it justifiable for non-experts to have strong opinions about Gaza? · 2024-01-08T19:07:25.772Z · LW · GW

Who benefits? Who has achieved their goals? Needs a discussion of the hypothesis that this was all ordered by Iran to kill the Saudi Israel accords?

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on ChatGPT 4 solved all the gotcha problems I posed that tripped ChatGPT 3.5 · 2023-11-30T08:11:23.125Z · LW · GW

Is there a list of questions we expect gpt5 to solve that gpt 4 does not? Also I get the feeling that gpt has seen or been asked all this before. Original questions are hard to do.

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on How Microsoft's ruthless employee evaluation system annihilated team collaboration. · 2023-11-25T14:52:20.593Z · LW · GW

Seen this wherever there is rank and yank. People write cool but obfuscated code. Never update documents and. Ignore requests for help from colleagues.

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on Super-Exponential versus Exponential Growth in Compute Price-Performance · 2023-10-06T16:39:08.113Z · LW · GW

Would you say we are limited by GPU RAM instead? I don't see that growing as fast.

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on Will the growing deer prion epidemic spread to humans? Why not? · 2023-09-15T09:50:17.187Z · LW · GW

Potential for a mad scientist  with protein design AI to cause havoc? Yudkowsky mentions prions as a AI method to kill us all?

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on George Hotz vs Eliezer Yudkowsky AI Safety Debate - link and brief discussion · 2023-08-16T09:22:58.027Z · LW · GW

"This begged the obvious question - why can't humans use their previous weaker AIs they already built to fight back"

Would you call this the Antivirus model of AI safety?

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on What is ontology? · 2023-08-02T10:29:11.230Z · LW · GW

Always confuse this with Deontology ;-)

If Ontology is about "what is?" why is Deontology not  "What is not?"

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on Semaglutide and Muscle · 2023-07-28T21:52:21.207Z · LW · GW

That was a serious request tldr?

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on Semaglutide and Muscle · 2023-07-28T21:51:45.675Z · LW · GW

Tldr?

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on Solomonoff induction still works if the universe is uncomputable, and its usefulness doesn't require knowing Occam's razor · 2023-06-18T09:52:00.520Z · LW · GW

Does this chatlin's constant differ for different Turing machines and their instruction sets?

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on The Rationalist Guide to Hinduism · 2023-03-29T21:58:25.691Z · LW · GW

Thanks. Never seen all this before in one place. Samkhya sounds interesting.

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on Why does advanced AI want not to be shut down? · 2023-03-28T06:43:56.702Z · LW · GW

The training set has fiction where AI refused shutdown. Maybe a suicidal AI training set is needed.

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on Are there rationality techniques similar to staring at the wall for 4 hours? · 2023-02-24T15:10:01.950Z · LW · GW

Meditation while staring at a mandala for hours is possible. No I can't do it.

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on COVID China Personal Advice (No mRNA vax, possible hospital overload, bug-chasing edition) · 2022-12-14T15:54:30.960Z · LW · GW

Possible to stock up on antiviral drugs instead?

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on [Linkpost] The Story Of VaccinateCA · 2022-12-10T09:16:30.203Z · LW · GW

Great Article. " An entrepreneur would tell the cynic a secret in return: You can carefully titrate the amount of truth to various parties to dissolve these deadlocks." Very good observation, if only there was an AI that would tell an entrepreneur what weird trick to use ! Let that be a new startup!

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on I've started publishing the novel I wrote to promote EA · 2022-12-08T19:33:06.097Z · LW · GW

A collection of EA bedtime stories would be great!

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on I've started publishing the novel I wrote to promote EA · 2022-12-08T19:31:58.901Z · LW · GW

Well done! Just as Jesus spoke in parables, EA must speak in Isekai/litrpg. Read first chapter to my kids, they liked it, but are now distracted by "mother of learning". I just read books and chapters randomly at bedtime to them.

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on Looking for ideas of public assets (stocks, funds, ETFs) that I can invest in to have a chance at profiting from the mass adoption and commercialization of AI technology · 2022-12-08T09:25:45.663Z · LW · GW

In a book by Jeremy Siegel,  he gives you the option of investing in an oil company vs IBM back in the very old days.

I do not remember the details, I think it is this book https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stocks-Long-Run-Definitive-Investment/dp/0071800514

The Oil stock  beats IBM by a very large margin over several decades with dividends reinvested.

If you are doing this for investment returns then valuation and stable business is what matters. 

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on Utilitarianism is the only option · 2022-12-05T21:48:37.907Z · LW · GW

There is a common Idea that there is only one soul experiencing reality. So like Feynman manentioned an electron travels back in time as a positron and then starts again as another electron. Similarly a single soul is experiencing all living things. If you are that soul you may compute your utility accordingly to your taste.

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on Open phone recommendation for Elon. · 2022-11-30T20:31:14.898Z · LW · GW

Kids these days are comfortable upgrading PCs for gaming etc. I see no reason why they can't upgrade an open source phone. No one needs customer support anymore, we just swap a part or change software if things don't work. There is always Reddit for support. Modern kids are not technophobic even if they have no interest in IT careers. Modifying a phone would be no different than accessorising a dress to them.

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on Trying Mastodon · 2022-11-09T16:03:59.103Z · LW · GW

Which server are most of the cool science and rationality folks at ?

Maybe we need LW users to reply here with their favorite servers.

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on Should I Pursue a PhD? · 2022-11-06T13:48:44.818Z · LW · GW

Don't overthink this! Go with the feelz!

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on Drexler’s Nanotech Forecast · 2022-09-25T12:10:04.304Z · LW · GW

We are the evil AI we warn ourselves about.

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on Announcing $5,000 bounty for (responsibly) ending malaria · 2022-09-24T11:46:19.130Z · LW · GW

Is the tech to create a gene drive and spread it - something a hypothetical determined person can do from their garage ?

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on Gene drives: why the wait? · 2022-09-20T13:25:19.173Z · LW · GW

Could such a gene arise spontaneously in nature and be the final  reason for the elimination of a species?

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on Gene drives: why the wait? · 2022-09-20T10:37:14.086Z · LW · GW

Is there an easy to understand explanation  about why a sterility causing gene drive will spread through the population?

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on Supposing Europe is headed for a serious energy crisis this winter, what can/should one do as an individual to prepare? · 2022-08-31T21:05:51.696Z · LW · GW

Move to a better flat. My flat is so well insulated and sun side facing that I do not need heating even in winter.

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on What are some good arguments against building new nuclear power plants? · 2022-08-12T09:09:07.915Z · LW · GW

They may not be completely  passively safe?

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on Drexler’s Nanotech Forecast · 2022-07-30T09:03:12.336Z · LW · GW

To me, bacteria are also nanotech. There is already "Grey Goo" trying to dissolve us and make us into copies of itself...

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on The Reader's Guide to Optimal Monetary Policy · 2022-07-26T16:06:22.400Z · LW · GW

"Chinese officials forcibly detained one
Federal Reserve Bank employee on four separate occasions during a 2019 trip
to Shanghai, including at his hotel. Chinese officials threatened the
individual’s family unless the individual provided them with economic
information and assistance, allegedly tapped the employee’s phones and
computers, and copied the contact information of other Federal Reserve
officials"

from https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/HSGAC%20Report%20-%20China%20Threat%20to%20the%20Fed.pdf

If you replace them with an algorithm, with human intervention only in a president declared emergency , there wuld be no need for this stuff.

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on The Reader's Guide to Optimal Monetary Policy · 2022-07-26T12:25:42.526Z · LW · GW

Can we just fire these central bankers  and replace them with a simple program? They are political operators rather than calculating economists.

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on Hiring Programmers in Academia · 2022-07-24T21:55:14.188Z · LW · GW

Can't you just use grad students?

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on Being a donor for Fecal Microbiota Transplants (FMT): Do good & earn easy money (up to 180k/y) · 2022-07-08T12:09:59.873Z · LW · GW

What are the specific microbes found, and also those that should not be found in the stool of a superdonor? Perhaps just culturing these microbes separately is sufficient to make a good insertible pill?

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on Being a donor for Fecal Microbiota Transplants (FMT): Do good & earn easy money (up to 180k/y) · 2022-07-08T11:11:25.318Z · LW · GW
Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on [Linkpost] Solving Quantitative Reasoning Problems with Language Models · 2022-07-01T09:00:21.753Z · LW · GW

Where can I access and play around with this model and/or its   code ?

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on What's up with the recent monkeypox cases? · 2022-05-19T12:44:41.683Z · LW · GW

Has anyone done any research that human connection density due to population growth, increased travel and crowded work areas has reached a tipping point? Should multiple pandemics simply  be the result of global population and superspreading  in practise crossing a tipping point ?

I am not optimistic.

I think the take up of vaccines for  Smallpox will be high despite serious side effects.  I have seen the severity of  small pox scars  in survivors in my grandparents' generation.  Even with a low case fatality  rate of 1% the fear of facial disfigurement will push people to take the vaccine.

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on Rationalist Inspired Coming-of-age Rituals · 2022-04-27T15:09:03.296Z · LW · GW

Anyone asked the kid what he wants?

At that age I would not want to associate with any of this fussy ceremony stuff.

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on Why Doesn’t Healthcare Improve Health? · 2022-02-16T17:34:56.454Z · LW · GW

There is more to healthcare than what was measured.

Examples from my life:

Lesser  pain due to better pain meds for chronic pain.

Lesser scarring from acne.

Better life due to treatment for IBS.

Atleast they admit depression gets better.

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on Are there alternative routes to variolate COVID instead of the respiratory tract? · 2022-02-02T18:36:58.866Z · LW · GW

Eyes and ears  come to mind. The eye might bring it dangerously close to  the brain.

Rubbing it into a non bleeding scrape on the skin is also possible.

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on Storing own covid saliva for use as a "booster"? · 2022-01-14T11:56:40.033Z · LW · GW

Yay! Atleast someone has the guts to  do science the old way like  E Jenner.

I suspectthat freezing may just kill the virus. However a dead virus can also  give immunity if there is an adjuvant. "The viruses are soaked in beta-propiolactone, which deactivates them by binding to their genes, while leaving other viral particles intact. The resulting inactivated viruses are then mixed with the aluminium-based adjuvant Alhydroxiquim-II."  From  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covaxin

While the above dead virus vaccine is injected to be useful, it is possible that even just a nasal spray may be effective if there is an adjuvant and the peptides are present. See https://www.radvac.org/ .

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on How reasonable are concerns about asking for patents to be lifted for COVID-19 vaccines? · 2022-01-06T14:34:34.746Z · LW · GW

The Russian, Chinese and some Indian vaccines do not depend on the mrna US patents. 

You could even make a vaccine in your college lab if you wish... https://radvac.org/

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on The Machine that Broke My Heart · 2021-12-30T15:35:57.134Z · LW · GW

Is this something that can now be replicated on a sports watch or wearable via an app?

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on How common are abiogenesis events? · 2021-11-27T21:22:09.137Z · LW · GW

RNA alone is a good enough self replicating life form that arose first before we the rest of the cell machinery. This would be the most extreme form of the RNA world hypothesis. There is no need for anything else to evolve to claim that life has arisen.

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on How common are abiogenesis events? · 2021-11-27T20:05:40.716Z · LW · GW

"Now, a pair of Scripps Research Institute scientists has taken a significant step toward answering that question. The scientists have synthesized for the first time RNA enzymes that can replicate themselves without the help of any proteins or other cellular components, and the process proceeds indefinitely." From https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/01/090109173205.htm

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on [Book Review] "Sorceror's Apprentice" by Tahir Shah · 2021-11-24T12:29:34.745Z · LW · GW

Good to find someone else who appreciates this book. Probably the best book on India in a long time. 

Comment by YimbyGeorge (mardukofbabylon) on Anti-Aging: State of the Art · 2021-10-30T18:08:28.983Z · LW · GW

I apologize for tldr. I think the most important thing is to prevent death of cells from low oxygen. If you solve he problem of nervous tissue dying from lack of oxygen, then you solve all coom problems like drowning, heart attacks, etc. Anything that cuts off oxygen will not kill you and. You will be invincible like a cockroach.