[ExI] Eliezer S. Yudkowsky, Singularitarian Principles. Update?

[Damien Broderick]

On 11/12/2010 9:00 PM, Richard Loosemore wrote:

> You have no idea how entertaining it is to hear professionally qualified
> cognitive psychologists, complex systems theorists or philosophers of
> science commenting on Eliezer's level of competence in these areas.  Not
> many of them do, of course, because they can't be bothered.  But among
> the few who have actually taken the trouble, I am afraid the poor guy is
> generally scorned as a narcissistic, juvenile amateur.

The problem with this widely-used yardstick, Richard, is that it would 
apply equally well to you and me (for example) in regard to our 
convictions about psi--except for the "juvenile" part, alas. The 
question is how telling such an appeal to expert jeering is. Usually, 
very. Sometimes, not much, or even not at all.

Granted, in this case you are also drawing on your own direct experience 
of combative encounters with Eliezer and his writings, but that's a 
rather different point.

Damien Broderick