[ExI] Robot Olympics reveal humanoids rapid progress , and flaws

[Adrian Tymes]

On Sun, Aug 30, 2026 at 10:01 AM Ben Zaiboc via extropy-chat
<extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
> On 29/08/2026 21:11, John K Clark quoted:
> > "If I ask you which is harder — folding laundry or doing a backflip — most people will say folding laundry is way easier".
>
> Is that really true?
>
> If so, I'd have to conclude that most people are stupid. A moment's thought will show that folding laundry has many more variables than doing a backflip, so it has to be harder.
>
> Maybe what this means is that the author /assumes/ that most people will think that folding laundry is easier than doing a backflip. That reveals more about the author than about 'most people'.

Rather, it's different definitions of "easier" being conflated.

Backflips are single motions, so they are conceptually easier but
require physical force beyond what most people believe themselves
capable of.  Laundry might require a bunch of small motions, but most
people know they are capable of each of those motions, so the
collective set is deemed easier-to-perform than an act that most
people think they cannot perform.