4 ms·
This is only tangentially-esoterically related, but due to your comment I ran across some online book called Unsong about a Kabbalistic sweatshop in Silicon Val
by throweso 10y ago
This is only tangentially-esoterically related, but due to your comment I ran across some online book called Unsong about a Kabbalistic sweatshop in Silicon Valley. [0] It sounded like a novel humoristic idea. Apparently by coincidence the lead character is named Aaron Smith-Teller, and worked on AI at some point. And Astro Teller wrote a book about AI and also sold a movie pitch to Paramount called Golem (a Kabbalistic reference).
And Gwern posted an interesting thing on Edward Teller's Atomic Alphabet. [1]
[0] http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28589297-unsong http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28589297-unsong
[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/unsong/comments/4pzyvq/edward_tellers_atom_alphabet_1946/ https://www.reddit.com/r/unsong/comments/4pzyvq/edward_telle...
- eru 10y agoIsn't Unsong by the same author as Slate Star Codex?
- tene 10y agoYes, it's authored by Scott Alexander.
- tene 10y agoIt's not a coincidence; it's discussed in chapter 6 that Aaron Smith-Teller's grandfather was Edward Teller. http://unsongbook.com/chapter-6-till-we-have-built-jerusalem/ http://unsongbook.com/chapter-6-till-we-have-built-jerusalem...
- throweso 10y agoSorry I wasn't clear. This is the part I was referring to: >I recently learned that Astro Teller, the real-life grandson of Edward Teller, is the head of Google X Labs. And has a degree from Stanford in “symbolic computation”. And has written a fiction book about a man who creates a self-aware AI. I knew none of this when I wrote the first few chapters of this book. Needless to say, nothing is ever a coincidence. http://unsongbook.com/authors-note-2-podcast-llull-meetups/ http://unsongbook.com/authors-note-2-podcast-llull-meetups/