The Rationalist's Guide to the Galaxy: Superintelligent AI and the Geeks Who Are Trying to Save Humanity's Future - By Tom Chivers. The book opens with a meeting Chivers had in Berkeley with Paul Crowley, who told him, "I don't expect your children to die of old age." Chivers
"The Rationalist's Guide to the Galaxy" book helps explain the rise of AI doomers and the financial backing of Open Philanthropy (Holden Karnofsky, Ajeya Cotra, and Helen Toner have some interesting and very telling quotes there). But we should not underestimate the influence of
@DrTechlash Maybe you should give @TomChivers a chance to respond to your mischaracterizations of many of his claims in the book?
@DrTechlash The real questions aren't being asked, and many are conscious of the deception they're participating in. "Kill everyone" is a red herring. Humanity is being used, and some humans choose that betrayal...
@DrTechlash Sounds like a fascinating exploration of AI and its risks, blending science, philosophy, and a touch of drama—but the line between "rational movement" and "doomsday cult" seems thin. A compelling read for anyone curious about humanity's future and the people shaping the debate.
@DrTechlash so this is a book written by someone who started off as a critic and fell for Yud's cult pitch? seems like a cautionary tale it doesn't seem like the author realizes that @davidgerard is a big sneerclub fan either
@DrTechlash As enormous as this universe is, possibly just one, rare universe out of a multitude, the only thing that has any value or meaning at all is consciousness It is a real tragedy that anyone that enjoys and wants to keep it should ever lose it It would be nice if they didn't
@DrTechlash I don't agree with lw'ers on AI risk, but appreciate the culture. One thing it teaches is that you can't disprove a claim by psychoanalyzing people. CO2 is causing climate change whether or not we are biased towards believing it. AI is risky whether or not doomers are cultish.