From: Eliezer Yudkowsky (sentience@pobox.com)
Date: Thu Jun 03 2004 - 03:42:13 MDT
Michael Wilson wrote:
>
> On any normal project, I would entirely agree with you. But again, for
> this project you have to believe that you are saving the world, and
> this is the best possible thing you could be doing with your life, for
> it to work. It took me about six months to get over the craziness of
> this myself, but in the end I realised I couldn't argue with it.
This is not the Way. You *never* have to believe *anything* save what the
evidence dictates to you. No, not even if the world is at stake. It is a
total non-sequitur. First you evaluate the evidence. Then you arrive at
your beliefs. Then your emotions flow from your beliefs. Then you
construct a strategy to achieve that which, being the person you are, you
wish to do. All in that order.
-- Eliezer S. Yudkowsky http://intelligence.org/ Research Fellow, Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence
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