3 ms·

What cult does he run? Lesswrong? Lesswrong is dead, so if that is his cult, that must make him a pretty poor cult leader. Techno-libertarian? I'll grant you t

by Aljik 11y ago

What cult does he run? Lesswrong? Lesswrong is dead, so if that is his cult, that must make him a pretty poor cult leader. Techno-libertarian? I'll grant you the techno part, but lesswrong/the internet rationality people are about 70% left-wing and 25% libertarian. So, what cult does he run, and what makes it a cult?

jmcmichael 11y ago
Singularitarianism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singularitarianism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singularitarianism EDIT: I agree with the parent reply that Elizer's writings do not rise to the level of good philosophy, but don't believe that 'singularitarianism' can currently be considered a cult. But it possesses some attributes similar to cults so I believe it's correct to call it a 'cult-like' or 'proto-cult' belief system.
- Aljik 11y ago
  I don't think it's fair even call singularity stuff a cult. I would agree with calling it religious though. But cult-like at least to me implies more negative connotations. Isolating people from their friends & families. Abusive behavior towards its members. Stuff like that. Compounds where people live etc... Has this singularity "cult" even hurt anyone?
  - pron 11y ago
    > But cult-like at least to me implies more negative connotations. Isolating people from their friends & families. Abusive behavior towards its members. Stuff like that. I did not mean it like that, and if that is how people understood it then I apologize. I meant it in the sense defined by Wikipedia: "In the sociological classifications of religious movements in English, a cult is a religious or social group with socially deviant or novel beliefs and practices". Or, in other words, a small fringe (possibly non-theistic) religion.
    - jimrandomh 11y ago
      This comes across as an instance of motte and bailey ( http://slatestarcodex.com/2014/11/03/all-in-all-another-brick-in-the-motte/ http://slatestarcodex.com/2014/11/03/all-in-all-another-bric... ). It would be better to either avoid the word cult, or stand behind the full connotations of the word including the implied accusations. FWIW, take it from me as someone with a sense of humor who's a little closer to the situation: Yudkowsky is clearly not a cult leader because he only has one sex slave. A cult leader would have five or more. As for the actual ideas, if his writing style bothers you then Nick Bostrom's book Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies is a good entry point (from an academic philosopher).
      - pron 11y ago
        > It would be better to either avoid the word cult, or stand behind the full connotations of the word including the implied accusations. I am sorry for using the word with its the academic meaning, which is what I'm familiar with[1], rather than the colloquial one. As I said in another comment, I am not a native English speaker, so I was not familiar with the colloquial connotation of the word in English. Indeed, I now see on Wikipedia that English speakers are often confused by the use of the word in texts translated from other languages (where it carries the same definition but without the same negative connotations). [1]: My favorite professor said, "There are only two profitable things you can do with an academic training in history: work as a technical advisor for historical movies or form a cult".
    - Aljik 11y ago
      Eh. I don't think that Wikipedia definition is commonplace usage. There are numerous social groups with deviant novel beliefs and practices, that people don't call cults. Do you call all such things cults? And to be honest, I wouldn't even call the singularity culture a religion. It has no supernatural beings (no gods as you, but no angels or whatever as well). No magical beliefs. By that I mean things like the idea that prayer can heal. No ways to worship. No prescriptions on how to live your life. Literally the only thing is singularity = rapture. Like honestly, what makes it a religion? Its just a weird idea that nerds like to talk about.

by Aljik 11y ago

jmcmichael 11y ago

Singularitarianism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singularitarianism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singularitarianism EDIT: I agree with the parent reply that Elizer's writings do not rise to the level of good philosophy, but don't believe that 'singularitarianism' can currently be considered a cult. But it possesses some attributes similar to cults so I believe it's correct to call it a 'cult-like' or 'proto-cult' belief system.

Aljik 11y ago
I don't think it's fair even call singularity stuff a cult. I would agree with calling it religious though. But cult-like at least to me implies more negative connotations. Isolating people from their friends & families. Abusive behavior towards its members. Stuff like that. Compounds where people live etc... Has this singularity "cult" even hurt anyone?
- pron 11y ago
  > But cult-like at least to me implies more negative connotations. Isolating people from their friends & families. Abusive behavior towards its members. Stuff like that. I did not mean it like that, and if that is how people understood it then I apologize. I meant it in the sense defined by Wikipedia: "In the sociological classifications of religious movements in English, a cult is a religious or social group with socially deviant or novel beliefs and practices". Or, in other words, a small fringe (possibly non-theistic) religion.
  - jimrandomh 11y ago
    This comes across as an instance of motte and bailey ( http://slatestarcodex.com/2014/11/03/all-in-all-another-brick-in-the-motte/ http://slatestarcodex.com/2014/11/03/all-in-all-another-bric... ). It would be better to either avoid the word cult, or stand behind the full connotations of the word including the implied accusations. FWIW, take it from me as someone with a sense of humor who's a little closer to the situation: Yudkowsky is clearly not a cult leader because he only has one sex slave. A cult leader would have five or more. As for the actual ideas, if his writing style bothers you then Nick Bostrom's book Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies is a good entry point (from an academic philosopher).
    - pron 11y ago
      > It would be better to either avoid the word cult, or stand behind the full connotations of the word including the implied accusations. I am sorry for using the word with its the academic meaning, which is what I'm familiar with[1], rather than the colloquial one. As I said in another comment, I am not a native English speaker, so I was not familiar with the colloquial connotation of the word in English. Indeed, I now see on Wikipedia that English speakers are often confused by the use of the word in texts translated from other languages (where it carries the same definition but without the same negative connotations). [1]: My favorite professor said, "There are only two profitable things you can do with an academic training in history: work as a technical advisor for historical movies or form a cult".
  - Aljik 11y ago
    Eh. I don't think that Wikipedia definition is commonplace usage. There are numerous social groups with deviant novel beliefs and practices, that people don't call cults. Do you call all such things cults? And to be honest, I wouldn't even call the singularity culture a religion. It has no supernatural beings (no gods as you, but no angels or whatever as well). No magical beliefs. By that I mean things like the idea that prayer can heal. No ways to worship. No prescriptions on how to live your life. Literally the only thing is singularity = rapture. Like honestly, what makes it a religion? Its just a weird idea that nerds like to talk about.