[extropy-chat] chess and lizards

[Eliezer S. Yudkowsky]

Hal Finney wrote:
> Spike asked:
> 
>>Whole nuther unrelated question please Eli.  In your summit talk you made a
>>reference to politicians not being lizards.  The audience made an unexpected
>>reaction, mirth or surprise.  You looked around as if to say whaaaat?  This
>>was my reaction too: whaaaat?
> 
> Here's what I think happened.  Eliezer made some straightforward comment
> about politicians being smarter than lizards.  This is plainly true.
> However it is also a perfect 'straight line' setting up a joke, a put-down
> of politicians suggesting that they are dumber than lizards.  The audience
> members each mentally supplied the punch line and laughed at that.
> 
> I don't know whether Eliezer failed to anticipate that his comment
> would be interpreted that way, or whether this was a set-up with feigned
> surprise, intended for humorous effect.

I thought it might be worth a smile, but not a laugh loud enough to 
drown out my next lines.  Maybe it has to do with "the wrong lizard 
might win" or "Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos", or there's just some 
pop-culture thing I don't know.

-- 
Eliezer S. Yudkowsky                          http://singinst.org/
Research Fellow, Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence