From: Arona Ndiaye (arona1@em8s.com)
Date: Fri Apr 06 2001 - 14:19:20 MDT
There are other sites which explain things in laymen terms as you say. Ie:
http://www.kurzweilai.net
My understanding is that Low Beyond is more about CODING that damn seed AI
as opposed to anything else... When I said "Do not get me wrong" I was
referring to you not jumping to the conclusion that I was being elitist
*wink*
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chris Cooper" <coop666@earthlink.net>
To: <sl4@sysopmind.com>
Sent: Friday, April 06, 2001 12:58 PM
Subject: Re: Si definition of Friendliess
>
>
> >Arona Ndiaye wrote:
>
> >I believe that anyone interested should read ALL the material on Low
Beyond
> >+ archives + do some digging on their own to start with.
> >People need to do their homework, they do...
>
>
> I think that you miss my point. I agree that it is vitally important to
read
> all the background materials to be involved in the discussions on this
list.
> I'm working through the material right now myself. My comments refer more
to
> those members of the general public who have yet to be exposed to any of
these
> ideas. They may be willing to do the work as they gain more of an
awareness of
> the issues and ideas involved, but an easy-to-digest statement of the
goals and
> intentions behind all this would go a long ways towards helping to promote
> understanding of the Singularity, and perhaps even help to bring it about
much
> sooner.
>
> >A 'Singularity for Dummies' sounds like a joke to me. Do not get me
wrong,
> >but with all due respect: why should dummies need
> >to understand the Singularity ? More importantly with threats such as
> >Military-grade Nanotech etc... why should Eliezer (and the SingInst)
> >spend time on ANYTHING but what they're already busy with now ?
>
> This attitude is EXACTLY why it is important to explain these ideas to
> laypeople as we approach the Singularity. The kind of arrogant attitude
that
> says, "Why should we be obligated to explain our important work to others,
when
> they won't understand it in the first place?", is elitist, and goes
against the
> very concept of Friendliness that is VITALLY IMPORTANT to the successful
> completion of this little endeavor. Making the general public aware of the
very
> scary things that are possible as technology advances so quickly, (such as
the
> consequences of out-of-control nanotech) will only help us to reach the
> Singularity, ultimately.
>
> I agree that Eliezer shouldn't be expected to spend his time appearing on
talk
> shows or anything, but it is important for someone to provide a bridge
between
> the general public, and these very important ideas and goals. The
Singularity
> is supposed to help EVERYONE, not just those who got in line first.
Elitist
> attitudes help no one in this instance, and ultimately may harm everyone.
>
> COOP
>
>
>
> Arona Ndiaye wrote:
>
> > Chris Cooper wrote:
> >
> > > I was a little too polite to bring this up in quite this way, but
James
> > does have
> > > a point here. All of my previous misgivings come down to the simple
fact
> > that
> > > mistakes do happen.
> > >It's just that the more recent arrivals don't have the benefit of
> > >participating in the years of previous discussions on these topics.
> >
> > Greetings to each and everyone,
> >
> > I've only posted to this list once or twice (I never read any archives
up
> > till a few months ago), however:
> > It did not take me much to realize that Eliezer HAS GOT SOMETHING which
> > others (software engineers, AI coders etc...) do not have.
> > The details of which are explained (at least that was enough for me) in
> > "Coding a Transhuman AI 1/2" and "Algernon's law".
> >
> > >Eliezer has already covered some of these topics at various points in
his
> > >writing, but it might be a good idea to condense this stuff into one
place,
> > as an
> > >introduction to the subject, perhaps. (the Singularity for Dummies?)
> >
> > I believe that anyone interested should read ALL the material on Low
Beyond
> > + archives + do some digging on their own to start with.
> > People need to do their homework, they do...
> > A 'Singularity for Dummies' sounds like a joke to me. Do not get me
wrong,
> > but with all due respect: why should dummies need
> > to understand the Singularity ? More importantly with threats such as
> > Military-grade Nanotech etc... why should Eliezer (and the SingInst)
> > spend time on ANYTHING but what they're already busy with now ?
> >
> > Kind regards,
> >
> > Arona,
>
>
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