simonh

50 ms·

811.
by simonh 3y ago
All information that exists is physical, encoded in a physical substrate. Beads in an abacus, holes in a punched card, distributions of charge in a computer memory. Hypothetical information that is not encoded physically cannot be causal. A
812.
by simonh 3y ago
I agree certain knowledge may be unattainable, but I don’t care. Useful effective knowledge that helps me achieve my goals in life will do just fine. As long as my mental model of the tree is accurate and useful enough for me to chop it dow
813.
by simonh 3y ago
Sure, personally I see it as a language for expressing relationships and processes. I expounded on this in detail in another comment.
814.
by simonh 3y ago
The comment could be interpreted as meaning that such systems cannot be complete or consistent, I'm just pointing out they can be one or the other. As I understand it, it is possible to consistently prove and decide things in mathemati
815.
by simonh 3y ago
So you consistently perceive streams, the world, have a body, a life, a wife, a kitchen with a flaw that has persisted over time, an order in to fix it. Also the world is consistent enough that you could predict that argument in advance. Th
816.
by simonh 3y ago
That's not quite correct. Systems of mathematics cannot be both complete and consistent, but incomplete systems of mathematics can be consistent. For example Presburger arithmetic is provably consistent. There are limits to consistency
817.
by simonh 3y ago
The physical world is a persistent system that exhibits highly consistent behaviour. Because the behaviour is consistent we can describe it in a highly consistent formal language, mathematics. What Plato called forms are just descriptions.
818.
by simonh 3y ago
I think both are descriptive. Mathematics is a descriptive language, and thoughts are descriptions of the world, ourselves, our intentions, etc or maybe the process of forming those descriptions.
819.
by simonh 3y ago
I would agree that everything we experience is a model of the world that we construct from sense data, interpreted by our sensory systems and cognitive faculties. Donald Hoffman is good on this and worth looking up, although I disagree with
820.
by simonh 3y ago
There are several things we could call mathematics. There is the abstract collection of all possible mathematical objects, statements, proofs, etc. There is the subset which is the actual body of knowledge we have explored. Within those par
821.
by simonh 3y ago
So long as China knows that's their only winning move that's fine, but especially given Xi's tendency to shoot the messenger and pack his administration with barely competent yes men we have no idea what he 'knows'.
822.
by simonh 3y ago
Basically the parties and individual politicians have their own political areas of intention and aspiration, which all overlap with each other. What actually ends up happening is 90% within the overlap area. But that's just because the
823.
by simonh 3y ago
Nobody here us saying that actual predatory practices are ok. I’m certainly not advocating for law of the jungle. But within reasonable legal and regulatory limits I don’t see how crating cute character and fun entertainment is a harm. I’m
824.
by simonh 3y ago
Frankly it's bullshit. The Putinist narrative that democracy is a sham makes sense for a man isolated from the real world that doesn't use the internet, but it's stunning to me how disconnected some people in the west can be
825.
by simonh 3y ago
>Military-industrial complex emerges and captures politicians (US 1950s) So far China has completely avoided this. The military is very firmly under Party control. >Military interventionalism shows its flaws through failed post-interv
826.
by simonh 3y ago
The actual desires and interests of actual citizens, even in vibrant democracies with changes of elected government and free speech, don't count. Nice.
827.
by simonh 3y ago
It's a shame I can't reply to sand_castles directly. Countries freely choosing to allow allies to put military bases on their territory, generally with wide public support such as in Germany, Japan, and many others, is hardly colo
828.
by simonh 3y ago
>As a person who has taken marketing classes, yes, I make sure my toddlers have close to 0 Disney and Nintendo exposure. Good for you. I didn't take that level of a position, we had a Wii in the house and watched some Disney movies.
829.
by simonh 3y ago
That's why I mentioned parental responsibility. It's the parent's house and they choose where they take their children outside it.
830.
by simonh 3y ago
In the old days we used to call those hobbies.
831.
by simonh 3y ago
The Flappy Bird programmer got harassed by people complaining he was a vile predator because a relative of theirs got addicted to it. People need to take some responsibility for their lives, and those of their own children. Yes there can be
832.
by simonh 3y ago
COVID wasn't anywhere close to just let rip in the US. There's an argument that happened late on in some very Trumpian districts, hence the wards full of dying vaccine deniers late in the pandemic, but overall the difference betwe
833.
by simonh 3y ago
I'd say the US is a hegemon but not really an Empire except for a few small islands. They've also made some terrible mistakes such as Vietnam and the 2nd Gulf War. The way the US prosecuted the Korean war was also inexcusable, alt
834.
by simonh 3y ago
I just watched the video, and as far as I can tell they didn’t actually convert the wave form into sound and play it. I feel cheated.
835.
by simonh 3y ago
What goals would a better outcome serve, and why should we care about them?
836.
by simonh 3y ago
The fact that AI alignment is not yet a solved problem, and according to AI safety researchers we don’t have a clear path to solving it, is not an assumption. Further I don’t think that worrying about that in the context of possible super i
837.
by simonh 3y ago
What the paper clip maximiser is doing is generating harmful unintended instrumental goals, such as killing the humans so that they can’t stop it making more Paperclips.
838.
by simonh 3y ago
I don't know how existentially dangerous AIs may become, but I do think we have good reason to be concerned about the alignment of current AIs with human values and objectives. A whole bunch of originally theoretical flaws in AI system
839.
by simonh 3y ago
Donuts are another option. That’s what you get when you join a square at each pair of opposite edges.
840.
by simonh 3y ago
“ should I respect any nation’s rationale for a capital control?” If you enjoy the protections, privileges and rights that nation affords you then yes. You have an obligation to follow the rules, or strive to change them through political m

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