This makes sense to me, but keep in mind we’re on this site and debating it because EY went “screw A, B, and C- my aesthetic sense says that the best way forward is to write some Harry Potter fanfiction.”
My takeaway is that if anyone reading this is working hard but not currently focused on the hardest problem, don’t necessarily fret about that.
When Eliezer wrote HPMOR, it was not clear to him that things would go down in the 2020s. That’s what he said in I think this interview. Had Eliezer’s plan worked out to create a dozen new better Eliezers through his writing (which was the plan) this would have been the best action.
Also, I agree that you should not apply the reasoning suggested in the OP blindly. I think it is a useful heuristic.
This makes sense to me, but keep in mind we’re on this site and debating it because EY went “screw A, B, and C- my aesthetic sense says that the best way forward is to write some Harry Potter fanfiction.”
My takeaway is that if anyone reading this is working hard but not currently focused on the hardest problem, don’t necessarily fret about that.
When Eliezer wrote HPMOR, it was not clear to him that things would go down in the 2020s. That’s what he said in I think this interview. Had Eliezer’s plan worked out to create a dozen new better Eliezers through his writing (which was the plan) this would have been the best action.
Also, I agree that you should not apply the reasoning suggested in the OP blindly. I think it is a useful heuristic.