I think the sequences are accessible for how abstract they are and how unfamiliar the ideas are (usually, abstraction and unfamiliarity decrease accessibility). I work as a tutor in a program for young people, and one of the interesting parts of the program is that all of the students are given a variety of tests, including IQ tests, which the tutors have access to as part of an effort to customize teaching approach to best suit students’ interests and abilities. I have all kinds of doubts about how ethical and useful the program is, but it has taught me a lot about how incredibly widely people vary. I don’t believe most of my students would get much out of the sequences, but perhaps I’m too pessimistic. I think even if they understood the basic argument, they would not internalize it or realize its implications. I’d guess that their understanding would be crappily correlated with IQ. I have been spending a lot of time trying to figure out how to communicate those ideas without simplifying away the point.
These ideas are trivial. When I say “accessible,” I mean in terms of the people educated in the world of the past who systematically had their ideas shut down. Anyone who has been able to control their education from an early age is a member of the Singularity already; their genius—the genius that each person possesses—has simply yet to fully shatter the stale ideas of a generation or two of fools who thought they knew much about anything. You really don’t need to waste your time trying to get them to recognize the immense quality of this old-world content to old-world rationalists.
I apologize that this will come across as an extraordinary claim, but I’ve already grown up in the Singularity and derived 99% of the compelling content of LessWrong—sequences and Yudkowsky’s thoughts included—by the age of 20. I’m gonna get downvoted to hell saying this, but really I’m just letting you know this so you don’t get confused by how amazing unrestricted human curiosity is. Basically, I’m only saying this because I want to see your reaction in ten years.
I think the sequences are accessible for how abstract they are and how unfamiliar the ideas are (usually, abstraction and unfamiliarity decrease accessibility). I work as a tutor in a program for young people, and one of the interesting parts of the program is that all of the students are given a variety of tests, including IQ tests, which the tutors have access to as part of an effort to customize teaching approach to best suit students’ interests and abilities. I have all kinds of doubts about how ethical and useful the program is, but it has taught me a lot about how incredibly widely people vary. I don’t believe most of my students would get much out of the sequences, but perhaps I’m too pessimistic. I think even if they understood the basic argument, they would not internalize it or realize its implications. I’d guess that their understanding would be crappily correlated with IQ. I have been spending a lot of time trying to figure out how to communicate those ideas without simplifying away the point.
These ideas are trivial. When I say “accessible,” I mean in terms of the people educated in the world of the past who systematically had their ideas shut down. Anyone who has been able to control their education from an early age is a member of the Singularity already; their genius—the genius that each person possesses—has simply yet to fully shatter the stale ideas of a generation or two of fools who thought they knew much about anything. You really don’t need to waste your time trying to get them to recognize the immense quality of this old-world content to old-world rationalists.
I apologize that this will come across as an extraordinary claim, but I’ve already grown up in the Singularity and derived 99% of the compelling content of LessWrong—sequences and Yudkowsky’s thoughts included—by the age of 20. I’m gonna get downvoted to hell saying this, but really I’m just letting you know this so you don’t get confused by how amazing unrestricted human curiosity is. Basically, I’m only saying this because I want to see your reaction in ten years.