The original article and usual use of “Ugh Field” (in the link at the top of the post) is summariezed as:
Pavlovian conditioning can cause humans to unconsciously flinch from even thinking about a serious personal problem they have, we call it an “Ugh Field”1. The Ugh Field forms a self-shadowing blind spot covering an area desperately in need of optimization, imposing huge costs.
I agree that LW has Ugh Fields, but I can’t see how AI risks is one. There may be fear associated with AI risks here but that is specifically because it is a major topic of discussion here. Fear may impede clear thinking, sure, but this particular case doesn’t seem to fit into the notion of Ugh Field.
I think the confusion stems from the definition in the post being much too loose:
Ugh Fields are internal negative reactions that occur before the conscious mind has an opportunity to process the information, often resulting in less than optimal decision making.
If you want to take a look at possible LW Ugh Fields, I’d take a look at user:Will_Newsome’s posts.
Ahh, okay. Rather narrow definition. I was thinking more along thoughts associated with fear. Scare people with concept they don’t very well understand, offer hope, and over time as they think about one and get scared or think of the other and get comfortable, they develop conditioned associations of the form A=bad, B=good, that can not be removed with logical arguments any more than you can argue a conditioned blink reflex out of someone.
The original article and usual use of “Ugh Field” (in the link at the top of the post) is summariezed as:
I agree that LW has Ugh Fields, but I can’t see how AI risks is one. There may be fear associated with AI risks here but that is specifically because it is a major topic of discussion here. Fear may impede clear thinking, sure, but this particular case doesn’t seem to fit into the notion of Ugh Field.
I think the confusion stems from the definition in the post being much too loose:
If you want to take a look at possible LW Ugh Fields, I’d take a look at user:Will_Newsome’s posts.
Ahh, okay. Rather narrow definition. I was thinking more along thoughts associated with fear. Scare people with concept they don’t very well understand, offer hope, and over time as they think about one and get scared or think of the other and get comfortable, they develop conditioned associations of the form A=bad, B=good, that can not be removed with logical arguments any more than you can argue a conditioned blink reflex out of someone.