If I think I’m a BB then I should not be very confident in 2+2=4 or that JenniferRM is connected to a human or even is an account on LW. All my memories and thinking (and quite likely any sensory input) is fake so disconnected from any external territory.
If I assume I’m simulated then it’s more complex.
I don’t think I am either, so I am quite comfortable with 2+2=4 and, since I think I can trust my senses, I can even verify that claim with my fingers and counting. These days I would have to question the JenniferRM is actually human and not some modern LLM that is fooling me a bit more. But, as you note, I do have some history to fall back on that precedes the more advanced LLM that can fool me and could be posting so still have a strong sense you’re not one. But, yes, your point stands, I would trust the math more than the account. But that is possible, for me, just because I don’t see myself as a BB or simulation.
As for the “we”, that was probably sloppy on my part. I tend to interpret claims of being a simulation to mean we’re all in one, not that the speaker considers they are (or might be) one. I should change that view.
Thanks.
If I think I’m a BB then I should not be very confident in 2+2=4 or that JenniferRM is connected to a human or even is an account on LW. All my memories and thinking (and quite likely any sensory input) is fake so disconnected from any external territory.
If I assume I’m simulated then it’s more complex.
I don’t think I am either, so I am quite comfortable with 2+2=4 and, since I think I can trust my senses, I can even verify that claim with my fingers and counting. These days I would have to question the JenniferRM is actually human and not some modern LLM that is fooling me a bit more. But, as you note, I do have some history to fall back on that precedes the more advanced LLM that can fool me and could be posting so still have a strong sense you’re not one. But, yes, your point stands, I would trust the math more than the account. But that is possible, for me, just because I don’t see myself as a BB or simulation.
As for the “we”, that was probably sloppy on my part. I tend to interpret claims of being a simulation to mean we’re all in one, not that the speaker considers they are (or might be) one. I should change that view.