One reason I might not want to become a ball of ecstasy is that I don’t really feel it’s ME. I’m not even sure it’s sentient, since it doesn’t learn, communicate, or reason, it just enjoys.
Tiiba
Karma: 343
“I assign a 99.9% probability to there being more male readers than male readers of LW”
I expect that you have a VERY GOOD reason. As it is, I cannot help but disagree.
And the answer is, “Yes! I run the world’s biggest honeypot for teenage idiots who want to post pics of themselves racing on a freeway with a suspended license and a beer in the cupholder.”
Imagine if elections worked that way: one party, one vote, so the time cubists would get only slightly less influence than the Democrats. I dunno...
“What’s the worst argument you can think of?”
Since you asked… Some people told me I shouldn’t be vegetarian because I kill plants.
And my reaction to such arguments is the surprise of learning that the human mind really is that broken. I used to be under the impression that as intelligence rises, the ability to spot certain fallacies should be reached before the ability to ride the long bus.
I don’t feel any pain, but sometimes I feel like I’m SUPPOSED to get an ice cream headache from the overwhelming stupidity.
Eliezer did. (Well, almost, for a while.)
“And what is it about selfishness exactly that is so bad?”
It’s fine and dandy in me, but I tend to discourage it in other people. I find that I get what I want faster that way.
Now give me some cash.
Suffering
Rationality Quotes: December 2010
“Aesthetics is pretty reliable among humans, but what about in minds-in-general”
I don’t think that’s relevant. A fugue’s job description doesn’t include entertaining killer robots from outer space, it’s supposed to entertain humans.
In general, I think any artwork should be judged (not enjoyed, but judged) based on whether the author succeeded or failed at what [s]he, personally set out to do, and whether it was a hard thing to do—whether it is creating music that is different from all other music in every way imaginable while remaining musical, or writing a novel that avoids all unrealism, or just figuring out what makes museums accept works for which “garbage” is a description, not an insult. Basically, the same way you’d judge an engineer.
You know, Clippy was a perfect example of a broken attempt at friendliness.
“Can’t I do things without the results being guaranteed?”
Yes; it’s called ignorance. It’s not called freedom.
Make her octarine. That would be eminently appropriate.
I will repost a quote that I posted many moons ago on OB, if you don’t mind. I don’t THINK this breaks the rules too badly, since that post didn’t get its fair share of karma. Here’s the first time: http://lesswrong.com/lw/uj/rationality_quotes_18/nrt
“He knew well that fate and chance never come to the aid of those who replace action with pleas and laments. He who walks conquers the road. Let his legs grow tired and weak on the way—he must crawl on his hands and knees, and then surely, he will see in the night a distant light of hot campfires, and upon approaching, will see a merchants’ caravan; and this caravan will surely happen to be going the right way, and there will be a free camel, upon which the traveler will reach his destination. Meanwhile, he who sits on the road and wallows in despair—no matter how much he cries and complains—will evoke no compassion in the soulless rocks. He will die in the desert, his corpse will become meat for foul hyenas, his bones will be buried in hot sand. How many people died prematurely, and only because they didn’t love life strongly enough! Hodja Nasreddin considered such a death humiliating for a human being.
“No”—said he to himself and, gritting his teeth, repeated wrathfully: “No! I won’t die today! I don’t want to die!”″
Something is making us talk about consciousness. Until we come up with a definition, we really have no business saying that this very real something is a fake version of some undefined ball of vagueness. It’s like saying that trees are just big wooden things pretending to be snumbas. It’s a lot better to just find out what makes us talk about consciousness and say, “Let’s call it consciousness!”
Good guess, but it’s mice. 42.
No, I know all those words, but you’re using them way too much. A lot of them are very apt labels, but they just don’t look right outside of TV Tropes. Just like outdated slang.
It would be a mistake if you don’t integrate ALL baby eaters, including the little ones.
Perfecting my warrior robot race,
Building them one laser gun at a time.
I will do my best to teach them
About life and what it’s worth,
I just hope that I can keep them
From destroying the Earth!--SIAI
I wanted to say this for a long time: human babies aren’t cute. Certainly not newborns. If I didn’t know better, and saw a newborn, I would perform an exorcism. They look like creatures from the Uncanny Valley.
Edit: Seventeen points? Maybe I should make this a top-level post. Opinions?
First I lose about that many from a very thoughtful post because of my unusual sense of humor. Then I gain them back on… this? People, start making sense.