I think this would be better as a reply to wherever shiminux said that he was happy and qualified to answer such questions, or as a PM to him. As a discussion post, I class it as noise.
This reaction is one reason I have personally never made a post like that. While I find the topic fascinating, I can see how many others would not (and the quick downvote supports your point). It is also not directly relevant to the AGI research or to applied rationality. However, I conjecture that there is a significant overlap between the group of people who are interested in Physics and those interested in the subject matter more relevant to LW, so I’m happy to talk about my area of expertise as long as there is enough interest.
Additionally, Physics in particular and natural sciences in general teach us one essential trait for an aspiring rationalist: humility. What’s out there and what is possible is so much richer than our imagination, which is a good thing to keep in mind when considering deep and hard problems, like the FAI.
I am happy to see math and physics puzzles and curiosities on Discussion, if the writeup is good enough. (In this case, it is not.) I am very unhappy to see these “are you smart enough?” gotcha posts that are Thomas’ speciality. And calling you out like this was just creepy.
Your answer here might the basis of a worthwhile discussion post. Asking the question (particularly because it calls you out specifically) is not a good discussion post.
I think this would be better as a reply to wherever shiminux said that he was happy and qualified to answer such questions, or as a PM to him. As a discussion post, I class it as noise.
This reaction is one reason I have personally never made a post like that. While I find the topic fascinating, I can see how many others would not (and the quick downvote supports your point). It is also not directly relevant to the AGI research or to applied rationality. However, I conjecture that there is a significant overlap between the group of people who are interested in Physics and those interested in the subject matter more relevant to LW, so I’m happy to talk about my area of expertise as long as there is enough interest.
Additionally, Physics in particular and natural sciences in general teach us one essential trait for an aspiring rationalist: humility. What’s out there and what is possible is so much richer than our imagination, which is a good thing to keep in mind when considering deep and hard problems, like the FAI.
I am happy to see math and physics puzzles and curiosities on Discussion, if the writeup is good enough. (In this case, it is not.) I am very unhappy to see these “are you smart enough?” gotcha posts that are Thomas’ speciality. And calling you out like this was just creepy.
Huh, I did not get that vibe at all.
To be fair, he asked me privately first if this is OK.
Your answer here might the basis of a worthwhile discussion post. Asking the question (particularly because it calls you out specifically) is not a good discussion post.
I class it as somewhere between noise and actual negative signal.