[extropy-chat] Boredom in old age

[Adrian Tymes]

--- "Eliezer S. Yudkowsky" <sentience at pobox.com>
wrote:
> Eugen Leitl wrote:
> > On Wed, Dec 03, 2003 at 12:10:59PM -0500, Eliezer
> S. Yudkowsky wrote:
> >>I wish I knew what I was doing right that everyone
> else seems to be doing 
> >>so wrong.  The problem is that trying to follow my
> lead doesn't seem to 
> > 
> > Ur, do you realize how this sounds?
> 
> If it doesn't sound bloody fed up, then I phrased it
> wrong.
> 
> I am not running out of exciting ideas.
> I am not running out of new ideas.
> I am not sitting on my hands doing nothing.
> I am not an optimist.
> I am still learning the basics in various fields of
> study with which I was 
> previously unacquainted.
> 
> So what are y'all doing wrong?

If it helps - so far as those five statements go, I'm
the same except I am an optimist.  And I, too, get
frustrated with many peoples' reluctance to do new
things, even when the necessity of the new things has
been demonstrated, merely because they are new.

I find it likely that all human beings (barring the
brain damaged) are physically capable of learning new
things.  The fear of the new just because it is new,
along with the fear of math and science, seem like
phobias learned (socialized) well after birth (but
usually before or during puberty), which just happen
to be common in modern society.

> >>help people, either - or helps only insofar as
> they are moved to study 
> >>tractable interesting subjects.
> > 
> > I'm not sure you're using your resources very
> wisely. 
> > AI is a high risk/high tradeoff field, but an
> academic and/or
> > industrial career would have provided you far more
> leverage 
> > than you currently have. 
> 
> Eugen, an academic and/or industrial career, though
> it would indeed be 
> easier than what I am doing now, will not prevent
> the coming train crash, 
> and is therefore ruled out.  Perhaps the problem is
> that y'all see what 
> you should be doing, then back off and do something
> easier instead.

Same thing here - except, the way I see it, I *want*
the "train crash" to happen.  Except slightly
differently: I want it to happen in a way that will
help everyone, not wind up with all of humanity
deleted overnight.  So, I try to introduce things
that will ameliorate the sudden effects, or try to
get people familiar with the tools they'll need to
ensure their own prosperity before they need 'em.
(For instance, one of the reasons for my patent:
experiments in malleable matter.  If the avearge
person, not just a few well-educated folk, has
internalized the concept of near-absolute control
over their surroundings, an AI using that tool won't
panic 'em as much.)

Granted, my current day job does not allow me to
pursue this.  But at least I am actively attempting
to rectify that situation - and my present setup
ensures that I will be in a position to try again in
several months if my current efforts do not allow me
to switch by then, even if having a separate day job
means less time to put towards the efforts, resulting
in a lower chance of immediate success.  (I don't
care so much about where I'll be tomorrow, as where
I'll be in 10 years.  But I do realize that the 10
year path I wish to follow requires that I eat
tomorrow, and today.)

> > By now I'm 99% certain that a sustainably visible
> online
> > persona is incompatible with getting things done.
> I'd be out of
> > here long ago if I wasn't so hooked.
> 
> I shall probably come to a similar conclusion in the
> not too distant future.

Define "sustainably visible online persona".  Where
above I was mostly the same way, here I depart: I use
this list as a tool - a source of inspiration, a
chance to discuss (and see the flaws and hidden
benefits of) far-out ideas (though I tend to stick to
the ones I might see in the near future), and so
forth.  As such, my presence varies: although I have
not measured this myself, I'm told that, in some
months, I'm one of the more prolific posters; other
months, I'm absent.