I posted Robustness to Scale and No Catastrophes at about the same time and was surprised to see a gap in the karma
FWIW, I was someone who upvoted Robustness to Scale (and Sources of Intuitions, and Knowledge is Freedom), but did not upvote No Catastrophes.
I think the main reason was that I was skeptical of the advice given in No Catastrophes. People often talk about timelines in vague ways, and I agree that it’s often useful to get more specific. But I didn’t feel compelled by the case made in No Catastrophes for its preferred version of the question. Neither that one should always substitute a more precise question for the original, nor that if one wants to ask a more precise question, then this is the question to ask.
(Admittedly I didn’t think about it very long, and I wouldn’t be too surprised if further reflection caused me to change my mind, but at the time I just didn’t feel compelled to endorse with an upvote.)
Robustness (along with the other posts) does not give advice, but rather stakes out conceptual ground. That’s easier to endorse.
FWIW, I was someone who upvoted Robustness to Scale (and Sources of Intuitions, and Knowledge is Freedom), but did not upvote No Catastrophes.
I think the main reason was that I was skeptical of the advice given in No Catastrophes. People often talk about timelines in vague ways, and I agree that it’s often useful to get more specific. But I didn’t feel compelled by the case made in No Catastrophes for its preferred version of the question. Neither that one should always substitute a more precise question for the original, nor that if one wants to ask a more precise question, then this is the question to ask.
(Admittedly I didn’t think about it very long, and I wouldn’t be too surprised if further reflection caused me to change my mind, but at the time I just didn’t feel compelled to endorse with an upvote.)
Robustness (along with the other posts) does not give advice, but rather stakes out conceptual ground. That’s easier to endorse.