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Sci-fi author: in my book I invented the idea of inserting human dna into a bacterium and it killing us all Tech company: by inserting human DNA into a bacteri

by arjie 4mo ago

Sci-fi author: in my book I invented the idea of inserting human dna into a bacterium and it killing us all Tech company: by inserting human DNA into a bacterium we can make very good insulin that will help diabetics Online Commenter: this is just like that book where the insulin kills us all! My take on this entire genre: https://wiki.roshangeorge.dev/w/Story-Logic_Bias https://wiki.roshangeorge.dev/w/Story-Logic_Bias And Eliezer Yudkowsky’s more eloquent precursor: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/rHBdcHGLJ7KvLJQPk/the-logical-fallacy-of-generalization-from-fictional https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/rHBdcHGLJ7KvLJQPk/the-logica...

SiempreViernes 4mo ago
[dead]
Folcon 4mo ago
The problem I have with this is not that I disagree with it, it's a good observation, it's that it ignores humans are very example biased and we really don't have many good positive examples, there's a dearth of positive / utopian perspective in fiction and it's absence sets the overton window handily I mean the Jetson's is one of the examples that comes to mind when I'm reaching for a positive example of future robots, the Jetsons! A cartoon from the 1960s is in my top 10 examples of "Positive AI / Robot having futures" Having a more positive takes on the future would go a long way to helping people understand what they're place in it might be, we did used to have periods of history where things were more positive, right now we're really lacking that perspective
- skinfaxi 4mo ago
  That's a very interesting observation. Why do you suppose that is? Naively I suspect that humans can't envision that kind of utopia without some authority keeping it in order, and power is ultimately a corrupting force so the story always plays out the same.
- sebastiennight 4mo ago
  Off the top of my mind right now: - the kid from the AI movie - the Sentient Intelligence from the Peter F Hamilton books I think there are quite a few positive examples if you dig enough. It's just that (a) none of those examples are being used as the mold for what large tech companies are set to achieve, because (b) none of those examples imply the sort of capital or power-concentration incentive that a capitalist company would look for. If it requires huge capital/power to bring the utopian story into reality and there is no capital/power incentive to do so, these stories will remain on paper. Whereas, if the Torment Nexus story details how its inventors got to rule the world for a millenium, you can see how it's more interesting for a certain type of person to gather the resources to build it if they have/can acquire the relevant skillset.
PoignardAzur 4mo ago
You're missing the point of the meme, which is not "technology is bad", but "technologists theming their new poorly-tested invention after a popular story where the invention hurts people is gross". If your tech company calls its product "The Genophage™" it's fair to ask if they're taking the safety/ethics implications very seriously.
- malfist 4mo ago
  > tech company > taking the safety/ethics implications very seriously In the era of move fast and break things that includes things like enabling genocide, is an oxymoron.
KaiserPro 4mo ago
Tech company: "We will now lobby the government to allow us to keep astronomically high insulin prices through large scale collusion with insurance companies" Look, the issue is two fold: 1) The Zuckerbergs class are insulated naive boys who've never spent time in the real world. So they do not understand that thier actions might have consequences. 2) every fucking tech giant starts out promising liberty, then gradually creates either a blood sucking money printer, or some hellish sock puppet system that props up their warped world view.
- NavinF 4mo ago
  Insulin is $25 at Walmart for a vial that lasts a month. 2 vials if you’re fat. Find out where you read about “astronomically high insulin prices” and consider what else that author lied about
  - KaiserPro 4mo ago
    Yup, what drove that price drop, was it a technical breakthrough? Given that in 2019 10ml of insulin outside of USA was what $20? in the USA it was ~250?
    - NavinF 4mo ago
      Not aware of any price drop. Walmart always sold dirt cheap insulin and it was never $250. You’re thinking of brand name insulin.
sebastiennight 4mo ago
To be more accurate to what we've been seeing for a decade, it would have to be something like Sci-fi author: in my book I invented the idea of inserting human dna into a bacterium and this GeneKiller bacteria killing protesters to the regime Tech company: by inserting human DNA into a bacterium we can make very good insulin that will help diabetics. We call it GeneKiller and we offer it to the regime to start testing on protesters first Online Commenter: this is just like that book where the insulin kills us all!

by arjie 4mo ago

SiempreViernes 4mo ago

[dead]

Folcon 4mo ago

The problem I have with this is not that I disagree with it, it's a good observation, it's that it ignores humans are very example biased and we really don't have many good positive examples, there's a dearth of positive / utopian perspective in fiction and it's absence sets the overton window handily I mean the Jetson's is one of the examples that comes to mind when I'm reaching for a positive example of future robots, the Jetsons! A cartoon from the 1960s is in my top 10 examples of "Positive AI / Robot having futures" Having a more positive takes on the future would go a long way to helping people understand what they're place in it might be, we did used to have periods of history where things were more positive, right now we're really lacking that perspective

skinfaxi 4mo ago
That's a very interesting observation. Why do you suppose that is? Naively I suspect that humans can't envision that kind of utopia without some authority keeping it in order, and power is ultimately a corrupting force so the story always plays out the same.
sebastiennight 4mo ago
Off the top of my mind right now: - the kid from the AI movie - the Sentient Intelligence from the Peter F Hamilton books I think there are quite a few positive examples if you dig enough. It's just that (a) none of those examples are being used as the mold for what large tech companies are set to achieve, because (b) none of those examples imply the sort of capital or power-concentration incentive that a capitalist company would look for. If it requires huge capital/power to bring the utopian story into reality and there is no capital/power incentive to do so, these stories will remain on paper. Whereas, if the Torment Nexus story details how its inventors got to rule the world for a millenium, you can see how it's more interesting for a certain type of person to gather the resources to build it if they have/can acquire the relevant skillset.

PoignardAzur 4mo ago

You're missing the point of the meme, which is not "technology is bad", but "technologists theming their new poorly-tested invention after a popular story where the invention hurts people is gross". If your tech company calls its product "The Genophage™" it's fair to ask if they're taking the safety/ethics implications very seriously.

malfist 4mo ago
> tech company > taking the safety/ethics implications very seriously In the era of move fast and break things that includes things like enabling genocide, is an oxymoron.

KaiserPro 4mo ago

Tech company: "We will now lobby the government to allow us to keep astronomically high insulin prices through large scale collusion with insurance companies" Look, the issue is two fold: 1) The Zuckerbergs class are insulated naive boys who've never spent time in the real world. So they do not understand that thier actions might have consequences. 2) every fucking tech giant starts out promising liberty, then gradually creates either a blood sucking money printer, or some hellish sock puppet system that props up their warped world view.

NavinF 4mo ago
Insulin is $25 at Walmart for a vial that lasts a month. 2 vials if you’re fat. Find out where you read about “astronomically high insulin prices” and consider what else that author lied about
- KaiserPro 4mo ago
  Yup, what drove that price drop, was it a technical breakthrough? Given that in 2019 10ml of insulin outside of USA was what $20? in the USA it was ~250?
  - NavinF 4mo ago
    Not aware of any price drop. Walmart always sold dirt cheap insulin and it was never $250. You’re thinking of brand name insulin.

sebastiennight 4mo ago

To be more accurate to what we've been seeing for a decade, it would have to be something like Sci-fi author: in my book I invented the idea of inserting human dna into a bacterium and this GeneKiller bacteria killing protesters to the regime Tech company: by inserting human DNA into a bacterium we can make very good insulin that will help diabetics. We call it GeneKiller and we offer it to the regime to start testing on protesters first Online Commenter: this is just like that book where the insulin kills us all!