From postmowoods at gmail.com Thu Feb 1 04:57:20 2024 From: postmowoods at gmail.com (Kelly Anderson) Date: Wed, 31 Jan 2024 21:57:20 -0700 Subject: [ExI] it's not? indeed? In-Reply-To: References: <046001da4a28$42a46bf0$c7ed43d0$@rainier66.com> <53570e12-394b-459e-84f1-53dae9ad9457@protonmail.com> <086601da4a8b$8b079350$a116b9f0$@rainier66.com> <010f01da4c94$93f775b0$bbe66110$@rainier66.com> <080501da4cad$c81bcfd0$58536f70$@rainier66.com> <25c901da4d65$e2adfd60$a809f820$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: On Mon, Jan 22, 2024 at 1:06?PM Keith Henson via extropy-chat wrote: > > > We saw dissenting views squelched on the internet, labeled disinformation with the implication that disinformation is false information. Now we know disinformation, misinformation and malinformation might be true. > > Please be specific about this accusation. For a fact, I don't know > how information can be squelched given that anyone can post anything > they want on FB. Would it be squelched if I posted a claim that > COVID-19 was brought to the US by little green aliens? I can't say definitively whether or not Covid was leaked from the lab and I doubt anyone can. I did see an Australian news production where Donald Trump was interviewed and said he believed it came from the lab based upon secret stuff he couldn't share publicly. The Donald is honesty challenged at best. However, it has seemed likely since January of 2020 to me based upon the fact that the virology lab is proximate to the initial outbreak and the bats in question live far away. All that being said, I can be more definitive about the Facebook response to the lab leak hypothesis. The following is partially based upon the following three articles published at the time. https://www.wionews.com/technology/facebook-lifts-ban-on-lab-leak-posts-as-us-investigates-origin-of-coronavirus-387899 https://techxplore.com/news/2021-05-facebook-reverses-wont-lab-virus.html https://www.spiked-online.com/2021/05/27/facebook-is-no-longer-censoring-the-lab-leak-theory/ Facebook initially limited and blocked posts that promoted the lab leak theory of the COVID-19 virus during the early days of the pandemic. This action was part of their broader policy to suppress what they considered to be misinformation about the pandemic. The policy included banning posts suggesting that COVID-19 was a man-made virus or had escaped from a lab. However, Facebook reversed this policy on May 26, 2021 and lifted the ban on posts discussing the lab leak theory as a possible origin of the coronavirus. This change in policy occurred in light of ongoing investigations into the virus's origins and evolving discussions in the scientific community and the media about the possibility of a lab leak. The reversal also followed new intelligence and public statements that lent some credence to this theory. So, while the lab leak itself is controversial, the Facebook response to the lab leak hypothesis is very well documented. -Kelly From postmowoods at gmail.com Thu Feb 1 05:03:34 2024 From: postmowoods at gmail.com (Kelly Anderson) Date: Wed, 31 Jan 2024 22:03:34 -0700 Subject: [ExI] qm using ten hundred words In-Reply-To: <007301da5478$d96b5670$8c420350$@rainier66.com> References: <007301da5478$d96b5670$8c420350$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: The best way to find the truth is to pick the one story that is most simple. On Wed, Jan 31, 2024 at 12:09?PM spike jones via extropy-chat wrote: > > > > > > > > > > I wrote about a thing found by a man which let humans go forward much, using only the ten hundred most used words. It was hard: > > > > > > > > > > A man found that we can not know how fast a thing is going and right where it is at the same time. This truth was named for that man, who is very important. This truth is used to make our stuff which works like it is thinking and does work to help us. This truth is used to make big hurt things we can drop on bad guys if they hurt us first, so they will not hurt us. It is used to make some of the power that comes out of the wall. It is even used in stuff that is used to make us feel good at the building where the people work who make people feel better, that building where people go who do not feel good. Our world today is like our world today because we found out about this truth that important man found. We would not have all the good things we have without that truth. > > > > > > > > Here you go, try it: > > > > https://splasho.com/upgoer5/ > > > > long thing with point at the end > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat From spike at rainier66.com Thu Feb 1 05:57:01 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Wed, 31 Jan 2024 21:57:01 -0800 Subject: [ExI] it's not? indeed? In-Reply-To: References: <046001da4a28$42a46bf0$c7ed43d0$@rainier66.com> <53570e12-394b-459e-84f1-53dae9ad9457@protonmail.com> <086601da4a8b$8b079350$a116b9f0$@rainier66.com> <010f01da4c94$93f775b0$bbe66110$@rainier66.com> <080501da4cad$c81bcfd0$58536f70$@rainier66.com> <25c901da4d65$e2adfd60$a809f820$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: <005401da54d3$7a49f1f0$6eddd5d0$@rainier66.com> -----Original Message----- From: extropy-chat On Behalf Of Kelly Anderson via extropy-chat Subject: Re: [ExI] it's not? indeed? On Mon, Jan 22, 2024 at 1:06?PM Keith Henson via extropy-chat wrote: > > > We saw dissenting views squelched on the internet, labeled disinformation with the implication that disinformation is false information. Now we know disinformation, misinformation and malinformation might be true... >...So, while the lab leak itself is controversial, the Facebook response to the lab leak hypothesis is very well documented. -Kelly _______________________________________________ Ja, Kelly I wasn't concerned about FaceBook or the approximately 14 grandmas who are still active there. I was far more interested in how information was handled on TwitterX, which has huge exposure. They were shadow-banning and outright banning in some cases, for posting about the possible lab-leak origin of COVID. Do let me be clear on this. I oppose false information, and I am cool with banning false information. But not for banning misinformation, malinformation or disinformation, so long as it is true or might be. Note that shadow banning misinformation which turned out to be true or plausible is what motivated Elon Musk to buy Twitter and convert it to X. spike From hkeithhenson at gmail.com Thu Feb 1 06:21:15 2024 From: hkeithhenson at gmail.com (Keith Henson) Date: Wed, 31 Jan 2024 22:21:15 -0800 Subject: [ExI] it's not? indeed? In-Reply-To: References: <046001da4a28$42a46bf0$c7ed43d0$@rainier66.com> <53570e12-394b-459e-84f1-53dae9ad9457@protonmail.com> <086601da4a8b$8b079350$a116b9f0$@rainier66.com> <010f01da4c94$93f775b0$bbe66110$@rainier66.com> <080501da4cad$c81bcfd0$58536f70$@rainier66.com> <25c901da4d65$e2adfd60$a809f820$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: On Wed, Jan 31, 2024 at 8:58?PM Kelly Anderson via extropy-chat wrote: snip > I can't say definitively whether or not Covid was leaked from the lab > and I doubt anyone can. I agree, but it is illogical, especially an intentional leak. > I did see an Australian news production where > Donald Trump was interviewed and said he believed it came from the lab > based upon secret stuff he couldn't share publicly. The Donald is > honesty challenged at best. As you say. > However, it has seemed likely since > January of 2020 to me based upon the fact that the virology lab is > proximate to the initial outbreak and the bats in question live far > away. It was quite a few miles, but like the first spillover, there was an intermediate host involved, probably raccoon dogs so the question of where the bats lived is irrelevant. > All that being said, I can be more definitive about the Facebook > response to the lab leak hypothesis. > > The following is partially based upon the following three articles > published at the time. > https://www.wionews.com/technology/facebook-lifts-ban-on-lab-leak-posts-as-us-investigates-origin-of-coronavirus-387899 > https://techxplore.com/news/2021-05-facebook-reverses-wont-lab-virus.html > https://www.spiked-online.com/2021/05/27/facebook-is-no-longer-censoring-the-lab-leak-theory/ > > Facebook initially limited and blocked posts that promoted the lab > leak theory of the COVID-19 virus during the early days of the > pandemic. This action was part of their broader policy to suppress > what they considered to be misinformation about the pandemic. The > policy included banning posts suggesting that COVID-19 was a man-made > virus or had escaped from a lab. At that time, and likely to this day, human technology is not up to a man-made virus. That being the case, it is exceedingly unlikely to have existed much less to have escaped from a lab. Now humans *can* modify viruses. We know the Covid virus can be much more infectious because natural selection has made it that way. If it was modified in a lab, they did a piss poor job. > However, Facebook reversed this policy on May 26, 2021 and lifted the > ban on posts discussing the lab leak theory as a possible origin of > the coronavirus. This change in policy occurred in light of ongoing > investigations into the virus's origins and evolving discussions in > the scientific community and the media about the possibility of a lab > leak. The reversal also followed new intelligence and public > statements that lent some credence to this theory. I understand the technology involved and give no credence to the theory at all. > So, while the lab leak itself is controversial, the Facebook response > to the lab leak hypothesis is very well documented. When FB policy determines "truth" we are in a sad state. Keith > -Kelly > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat From spike at rainier66.com Fri Feb 2 16:44:33 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Fri, 2 Feb 2024 08:44:33 -0800 Subject: [ExI] babylon bee on musk's neuralink Message-ID: <008301da55f7$19bbc4b0$4d334e10$@rainier66.com> This explains a few things. Musk secretly planted one of these things in me years ago: https://babylonbee.com/news/10-newly-discovered-side-effects-of-neuralink It's a conspiracy I tells ya! spike -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From spike at rainier66.com Fri Feb 2 19:01:59 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Fri, 2 Feb 2024 11:01:59 -0800 Subject: [ExI] [TIQ] unifying theories In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <00d601da560a$4d53a500$e7faef00$@rainier66.com> Of the fields of science I follow, my favorite it astronomy. It is a great time to be alive if one follows astronomy. The field of science that has undergone the biggest advances in recent years is probably virology, but astronomy has found a lotta cool new stuff as a result of the mind-blowing results from the LIGO experiment, detecting gravity waves. That research led to changes in the theory of how the heavier-than-iron elements formed. Check this: https://www.ancient-code.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Awesome-periodic-table.jpg spike -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From pharos at gmail.com Fri Feb 2 20:50:48 2024 From: pharos at gmail.com (BillK) Date: Fri, 2 Feb 2024 20:50:48 +0000 Subject: [ExI] [TIQ] unifying theories In-Reply-To: <00d601da560a$4d53a500$e7faef00$@rainier66.com> References: <00d601da560a$4d53a500$e7faef00$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: On Fri, 2 Feb 2024 at 19:04, spike jones via extropy-chat wrote: > Of the fields of science I follow, my favorite it astronomy. It is a great time to be alive if one follows astronomy. > > The field of science that has undergone the biggest advances in recent years is probably virology, but astronomy has found a lotta cool new stuff as a result of the mind-blowing results from the LIGO experiment, detecting gravity waves. That research led to changes in the theory of how the heavier-than-iron elements formed. Check this: > > https://www.ancient-code.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Awesome-periodic-table.jpg > > spike > _______________________________________________ Ethan Siegel explained this in more detail in a Big Think article in 2017 (and included the same diagram). Quote: Starts With A Bang ? June 12, 2017 The scientific story of how each element was made Ethan Siegel Think the periodic table is complicated? Now learn how each element in it was created. ________________________________ BillK From pharos at gmail.com Fri Feb 2 21:17:36 2024 From: pharos at gmail.com (BillK) Date: Fri, 2 Feb 2024 21:17:36 +0000 Subject: [ExI] Transhumanist ChatGPT4 Message-ID: GeoMindGPT: Navigating the Convergence of Human and Artificial Minds in the Cybernetic Era by Elizabeth Titovskaya Posted 24 Jan 2024 Quotes: GeoMindGPT, a customized version of ChatGPT, powered by GPT-4, is pioneering the frontier of AI-assisted understanding of complex scientific and philosophical concepts with a special focus on Global Superintelligence, Technological Singularity, Transhumanism & Posthumanism, Consciousness Studies, Quantum Gravity, Simulation Metaphysics. GeoMindGPT is more than just an AI; it?s a portal to understanding the complex ideas and scientific models of the most intriguing minds of our time, such as Alex M. Vikoulov, Ray Kurzweil, Nick Bostrom. By blending cutting-edge AI technology with deep philosophical insights, GeoMindGPT offers a unique opportunity to explore the future of humanity and the universe through the lens of visionary futurists and brilliant researchers. -------------------------- This looks like a useful development. Unfortunately, it is not free as it requires a subscription to ChatGPT Plus. BillK From foozler83 at gmail.com Fri Feb 2 22:04:58 2024 From: foozler83 at gmail.com (William Flynn Wallace) Date: Fri, 2 Feb 2024 16:04:58 -0600 Subject: [ExI] another health dilemma Message-ID: An Ocean ofAir, by Gabrielle Walker, a chemist,is really excellent. But... She says that taking in more antioxidants may interfere with body's own production of them. Now what? bill w -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From pharos at gmail.com Fri Feb 2 22:46:20 2024 From: pharos at gmail.com (BillK) Date: Fri, 2 Feb 2024 22:46:20 +0000 Subject: [ExI] another health dilemma In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On Fri, 2 Feb 2024 at 22:07, William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat wrote: > > An Ocean ofAir, by Gabrielle Walker, a chemist,is really excellent. But... > She says that taking in more antioxidants may interfere with body's own production of them. Now what? bill w > _______________________________________________ The chatbots disagree. Though you have to check they are not lying! :) Best answer (with references) - Consuming more antioxidants does not interfere with the body?s own production. Antioxidants are compounds that help neutralize harmful molecules known as free radicals, which can cause damage to cells and contribute to various diseases. The body produces its own antioxidants, but they can also be obtained from a variety of foods, such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, and whole grains. Consuming more antioxidants from food or supplements does not interfere with the body?s natural production of antioxidants. In fact, a diet rich in antioxidants can complement the body?s own antioxidant production and provide additional protection against oxidative stress. Antioxidants and Their Role in the Body Antioxidants are essential for maintaining the body?s overall health and well-being. They work by neutralizing free radicals, which are highly reactive molecules that can damage cells and contribute to aging and various diseases, including cancer, heart disease, and neurodegenerative disorders. The body naturally produces its own antioxidants, such as glutathione, catalase, and superoxide dismutase, to counteract the effects of free radicals. Dietary Sources of Antioxidants In addition to the body?s endogenous production of antioxidants, individuals can obtain these beneficial compounds from their diet. Fruits and vegetables are particularly rich sources of antioxidants, including vitamins C and E, beta-carotene, and other phytochemicals. Other dietary sources of antioxidants include nuts, seeds, whole grains, and certain beverages such as green tea and coffee. Complementing the Body?s Antioxidant Production Consuming a diet high in antioxidant-rich foods or taking antioxidant supplements does not interfere with the body?s natural production of these compounds. Instead, it can complement the body?s endogenous antioxidant system by providing additional support in neutralizing free radicals. This synergistic effect can help enhance the overall antioxidant capacity of the body and reduce oxidative stress. Conclusion In summary, consuming more antioxidants from dietary sources or supplements does not interfere with the body?s own production of these essential compounds. Instead, it can provide added support in combating oxidative stress and protecting against various diseases associated with free radical damage. Top 3 Authoritative Sources Used: Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health: This source provides evidence-based information on nutrition and its impact on health. It offers comprehensive insights into the role of antioxidants in the diet and their effects on overall well-being. National Institutes of Health (NIH): As a leading authority on biomedical research and public health, NIH offers valuable resources on antioxidants and their impact on human health. Its publications provide authoritative information on dietary antioxidants and their effects on the body. Mayo Clinic: Known for its expertise in medical research and patient care, Mayo Clinic offers reliable information on nutrition and dietary supplements. Its resources provide insights into the role of antioxidants in promoting health and wellness. These sources were selected for their credibility, expertise in nutrition science, and commitment to providing evidence-based information on antioxidants and their effects on the body. --------------------------- BillK From foozler83 at gmail.com Sat Feb 3 02:17:46 2024 From: foozler83 at gmail.com (William Flynn Wallace) Date: Fri, 2 Feb 2024 20:17:46 -0600 Subject: [ExI] another health dilemma In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: That's good to know, but I"ll bet that we are pissing a lot of antioxidants. But possibly some fat-soluble ones are stored. From a generative AI: Yes, some antioxidants are stored in the body. For example, fat-soluble antioxidants can be stored, but too many can build up and become toxic. Antioxidants should be consumed in moderation, and high-dose supplements should never be taken without a doctor's supervision.bill w On Fri, Feb 2, 2024 at 4:48?PM BillK via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > On Fri, 2 Feb 2024 at 22:07, William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat > wrote: > > > > An Ocean ofAir, by Gabrielle Walker, a chemist,is really excellent. > But... > > She says that taking in more antioxidants may interfere with body's own > production of them. Now what? bill w > > _______________________________________________ > > > The chatbots disagree. Though you have to check they are not lying! :) > > Best answer (with references) - > > Consuming more antioxidants does not interfere with the body?s own > production. > > Antioxidants are compounds that help neutralize harmful molecules > known as free radicals, which can cause damage to cells and contribute > to various diseases. The body produces its own antioxidants, but they > can also be obtained from a variety of foods, such as fruits, > vegetables, nuts, and whole grains. Consuming more antioxidants from > food or supplements does not interfere with the body?s natural > production of antioxidants. In fact, a diet rich in antioxidants can > complement the body?s own antioxidant production and provide > additional protection against oxidative stress. > > Antioxidants and Their Role in the Body > > Antioxidants are essential for maintaining the body?s overall health > and well-being. They work by neutralizing free radicals, which are > highly reactive molecules that can damage cells and contribute to > aging and various diseases, including cancer, heart disease, and > neurodegenerative disorders. The body naturally produces its own > antioxidants, such as glutathione, catalase, and superoxide dismutase, > to counteract the effects of free radicals. > > Dietary Sources of Antioxidants > > In addition to the body?s endogenous production of antioxidants, > individuals can obtain these beneficial compounds from their diet. > Fruits and vegetables are particularly rich sources of antioxidants, > including vitamins C and E, beta-carotene, and other phytochemicals. > Other dietary sources of antioxidants include nuts, seeds, whole > grains, and certain beverages such as green tea and coffee. > > Complementing the Body?s Antioxidant Production > > Consuming a diet high in antioxidant-rich foods or taking antioxidant > supplements does not interfere with the body?s natural production of > these compounds. Instead, it can complement the body?s endogenous > antioxidant system by providing additional support in neutralizing > free radicals. This synergistic effect can help enhance the overall > antioxidant capacity of the body and reduce oxidative stress. > > Conclusion > > In summary, consuming more antioxidants from dietary sources or > supplements does not interfere with the body?s own production of these > essential compounds. Instead, it can provide added support in > combating oxidative stress and protecting against various diseases > associated with free radical damage. > > Top 3 Authoritative Sources Used: > > Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health: This source provides > evidence-based information on nutrition and its impact on health. It > offers comprehensive insights into the role of antioxidants in the > diet and their effects on overall well-being. > National Institutes of Health (NIH): As a leading authority on > biomedical research and public health, NIH offers valuable resources > on antioxidants and their impact on human health. Its publications > provide authoritative information on dietary antioxidants and their > effects on the body. > Mayo Clinic: Known for its expertise in medical research and patient > care, Mayo Clinic offers reliable information on nutrition and dietary > supplements. Its resources provide insights into the role of > antioxidants in promoting health and wellness. > > These sources were selected for their credibility, expertise in > nutrition science, and commitment to providing evidence-based > information on antioxidants and their effects on the body. > > --------------------------- > > BillK > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From hkeithhenson at gmail.com Mon Feb 5 00:53:38 2024 From: hkeithhenson at gmail.com (Keith Henson) Date: Sun, 4 Feb 2024 16:53:38 -0800 Subject: [ExI] =?utf-8?q?Science_Magazine_-_Covid=E2=80=99s_cold_cousins?= Message-ID: If anyone cares about the wider background of COVID-19, this is a fascinating article. If it is behind a paywall, let me know and I can put up the whole thing. DESCRIPTION: Over a few weeks in November 1889, a respiratory disease attacked half the residents of St. Petersburg, Russia, and it soon began to race through Europe and the rest of the world. LINK: https://www.sciencemagazinedigital.org/sciencemagazine/library/item/12_january_2024/4164456/ From hkeithhenson at gmail.com Mon Feb 5 03:32:11 2024 From: hkeithhenson at gmail.com (Keith Henson) Date: Sun, 4 Feb 2024 19:32:11 -0800 Subject: [ExI] =?utf-8?q?=5BExtropolis=5D_Science_Magazine_-_Covid?= =?utf-8?q?=E2=80=99s_cold_cousins?= In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: The Wikipedia article does not support rhinovirus being in the coronavirus family. Keith On Sun, Feb 4, 2024 at 5:04?PM Lawrence Crowell wrote: > > The rhinovirus of the common cold is a coronavirus. > > LC > > On Sun, Feb 4, 2024 at 6:54?PM Keith Henson wrote: >> >> If anyone cares about the wider background of COVID-19, this is a >> fascinating article. If it is behind a paywall, let me know and I can >> put up the whole thing. >> >> DESCRIPTION: >> Over a few weeks in November 1889, a respiratory disease attacked half >> the residents of St. Petersburg, Russia, and it soon began to race >> through Europe and the rest of the world. >> >> LINK: >> https://www.sciencemagazinedigital.org/sciencemagazine/library/item/12_january_2024/4164456/ >> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "extropolis" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to extropolis+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com. >> To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/extropolis/CAPiwVB5rTu-SwvRPZ-_HkqYrHPRuyP0_eNph2AncxPkGPBVoKg%40mail.gmail.com. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "extropolis" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to extropolis+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com. > To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/extropolis/CAAFA0qoU9yWf9TsvYSbDG70pT6qOawhEiaR4Q5F-gx30RUUdSQ%40mail.gmail.com. From john at ziaspace.com Mon Feb 5 04:05:49 2024 From: john at ziaspace.com (John Klos) Date: Mon, 5 Feb 2024 04:05:49 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [ExI] META: mail server changes Message-ID: <61577ea9-6f11-80d4-48c0-232b7408e424@ziaspace.com> Hi, Microsoft is a big, dumb company. Because I reported literally thousands of spam from their networks to them, they blocked our servers. It's crazy that such stupidity is now normal and expected. I'm having to change the delivery server because Microsoft possesses no no way by which non-paying humans can communicate with them. Some messages in the last day or two may not have been delivered to Outlook / Hotmail addresses, and a message or two while making changes in the last hour might've been rejected. Please retry if this was the case. Sorry about this! It'll all be in order soon. Thanks, John Klos From postmowoods at gmail.com Mon Feb 5 06:23:47 2024 From: postmowoods at gmail.com (Kelly Anderson) Date: Sun, 4 Feb 2024 23:23:47 -0700 Subject: [ExI] Sex robots go to court In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: If pedophiles are essentially "untreatable", then why would society remove a method for them to deal with their predilections without harming actual children? This makes little sense to me. I also like the idea of the Catholic church paying the development costs for such an appliance as part of their recompense to the world. I'd sure rather have the pedophiles play with dolls of some kind than fucking up kid's heads. If you forced people to register in order to have access to such toys, then at least we know who to go after when the neighborhood kids start having problems or go missing. -Kelly On Mon, Jan 29, 2024 at 6:42?AM BillK via extropy-chat wrote: > > Sex robots go to court: Testing the limits of privacy and sexual freedom > by Jonathan Turley, 27 Jan 2024 > > > > Quotes: > From a legal perspective, these sex robots are nothing more than a > ramped up toaster with a fetching name. Even the term ?brothel? can be > challenged. In Paris, a sex doll brothel was opened and licensed as a > ?game center.? The analogy is based on the fact that bots, in the view > of customers, are simply machines designed for recreation. > > The bots remove the alleged victim in these scenarios. No one is being > directly harmed when someone has relations with what is essentially an > advanced appliance. > > This issue becomes far more difficult, however, when the bots are > designed to resemble children. Such devices have already been banned > in some countries, including recently in the U.S. > > In the absence of a direct victim, we are left with a pure moral or > social judgment on the private tastes and relations of adults. > > In the series ?Westworld,? ?host? Annie asked a reluctant guest ?if > you can?t tell the difference, does it matter if I?m real or not?? > Legally, the answer is no. But as that difference erodes, the question > as to whether it matters to others will grow. > ----------------- > > It looks like we are in for a season of moral panic, like back in the > 60s when the pill became available and 'sexual freedom' became > fashionable. > Until AIDs and STDs made people reconsider. No STDs with robots, though. > > BillK > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat From postmowoods at gmail.com Mon Feb 5 06:26:59 2024 From: postmowoods at gmail.com (Kelly Anderson) Date: Sun, 4 Feb 2024 23:26:59 -0700 Subject: [ExI] electric vehicles again In-Reply-To: <006f01da522b$14c2c0f0$3e4842d0$@rainier66.com> References: <00b001da521c$bf73cc10$3e5b6430$@rainier66.com> <006f01da522b$14c2c0f0$3e4842d0$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: On Sun, Jan 28, 2024 at 1:47?PM spike jones via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > Henry, I don?t doubt they exist. I only doubt the practicality of > charging on a long road trip. > The same could have been said of a Model T in 1921. -Kelly -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From pharos at gmail.com Mon Feb 5 10:18:35 2024 From: pharos at gmail.com (BillK) Date: Mon, 5 Feb 2024 10:18:35 +0000 Subject: [ExI] =?utf-8?q?Science_Magazine_-_Covid=E2=80=99s_cold_cousins?= In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On Mon, 5 Feb 2024 at 00:56, Keith Henson via extropy-chat wrote: > > If anyone cares about the wider background of COVID-19, this is a > fascinating article. If it is behind a paywall, let me know and I can > put up the whole thing. > > DESCRIPTION: > Over a few weeks in November 1889, a respiratory disease attacked half > the residents of St. Petersburg, Russia, and it soon began to race > through Europe and the rest of the world. > > LINK: > https://www.sciencemagazinedigital.org/sciencemagazine/library/item/12_january_2024/4164456/ > _______________________________________________ This article appears to be available here: BillK From ben at zaiboc.net Mon Feb 5 11:13:05 2024 From: ben at zaiboc.net (Ben Zaiboc) Date: Mon, 5 Feb 2024 11:13:05 +0000 Subject: [ExI] another health dilemma In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <92a3486f-6fa5-472e-9b78-d53f85420258@zaiboc.net> On 05/02/2024 04:06, BillW wrote: > That's good to know, but I"ll bet that we are pissing a lot of > antioxidants. But possibly some fat-soluble ones are stored.? From a > generative AI: > Yes, some antioxidants are stored in the body. For example, > fat-soluble antioxidants can be stored, but too many can build up and > become toxic. Antioxidants should be consumed in moderation, and > high-dose supplements should never be taken without a doctor's > supervision.bill w > > On Fri, Feb 2, 2024 at 4:48?PM BillK via extropy-chat > wrote: > > On Fri, 2 Feb 2024 at 22:07, William Flynn Wallace via > extropy-chat wrote: > > An Ocean > ofAir, by Gabrielle Walker, a chemist,is really excellent.? But... > > She says that taking in more antioxidants may interfere with > body's own production of them.? Now what?? bill w > > _______________________________________________ The chatbots > disagree. Though you have to check they are not lying!? :) Best > answer (with references) - Consuming more antioxidants does not > interfere with the body?s own production. Antioxidants are ... The idea that dietary antioxidants don't affect the production of antioxidants by the body is just given as a bald statement here. No reference to any evidence, no studies quoted, no attempt at giving even a theoretical reason. If any of the sources it used give any evidence, that isn't mentioned. I don't know if Gabrielle Walker gives any reasoning for her opinion. Chat GPT etc. seems to be very good at digging up lots of information related to a question, but not necessarily at figuring out what information it /should/ be digging up. Looking at the other thread about 'Newspeak', the chatbot keeps repeating itself in slightly different words, while numbering each paragraph as though they were referring to different aspects. Clearly there is still a gap of understanding. The thing that worries me most is the tendency to use what appear to be tactics for blindsiding people: Quote lots of facts, seem to answer the question while actually avoiding it and/or answer different questions instead, appeal to authority, repeat the same thing several times in different words. I'm not saying this is deliberate of course, but it's interesting that they seem to have picked up these tactics from their training material. Perhaps we're doing it to each other more than we realise or intend. To Bill w's question "Now what?", I think the answer has to be to look for research on whether taking in more antioxidants interferes with body's own production of them or not, rather than asking chatbots (of course, they can be useful in finding the research in the first place). I'm getting more and more wary of them, to be honest. Maybe the ability to use chatbots wisely will be an essential skill in the future, just as the ability to sensibly use a search engine is now. Ben -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From efc at swisscows.email Mon Feb 5 12:24:58 2024 From: efc at swisscows.email (efc at swisscows.email) Date: Mon, 5 Feb 2024 13:24:58 +0100 (CET) Subject: [ExI] META: mail server changes In-Reply-To: <61577ea9-6f11-80d4-48c0-232b7408e424@ziaspace.com> References: <61577ea9-6f11-80d4-48c0-232b7408e424@ziaspace.com> Message-ID: Hello John, I'm sorry to hear that, but based on what I hear in the industry at large, I'm sadly not surprised. In case you're not already done, I recommend infomaniak.com where I have my own company stuff and generally I've been very pleased with their support. Best regards, Daniel On Mon, 5 Feb 2024, John Klos via extropy-chat wrote: > Hi, > > Microsoft is a big, dumb company. Because I reported literally thousands of > spam from their networks to them, they blocked our servers. It's crazy that > such stupidity is now normal and expected. > > I'm having to change the delivery server because Microsoft possesses no no > way by which non-paying humans can communicate with them. Some messages in > the last day or two may not have been delivered to Outlook / Hotmail > addresses, and a message or two while making changes in the last hour > might've been rejected. Please retry if this was the case. > > Sorry about this! It'll all be in order soon. > > Thanks, > John Klos > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > > From pharos at gmail.com Mon Feb 5 14:16:32 2024 From: pharos at gmail.com (BillK) Date: Mon, 5 Feb 2024 14:16:32 +0000 Subject: [ExI] another health dilemma In-Reply-To: <92a3486f-6fa5-472e-9b78-d53f85420258@zaiboc.net> References: <92a3486f-6fa5-472e-9b78-d53f85420258@zaiboc.net> Message-ID: On Mon, 5 Feb 2024 at 11:15, Ben Zaiboc via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > > The idea that dietary antioxidants don't affect the production of antioxidants by the body is just given as a bald statement here. No reference to any evidence, no studies quoted, no attempt at giving even a theoretical reason. > > If any of the sources it used give any evidence, that isn't mentioned. > I don't know if Gabrielle Walker gives any reasoning for her opinion. > > Chat GPT etc. seems to be very good at digging up lots of information related to a question, but not necessarily at figuring out what information it should be digging up. > Looking at the other thread about 'Newspeak', the chatbot keeps repeating itself in slightly different words, while numbering each paragraph as though they were referring to different aspects. > > Clearly there is still a gap of understanding. > > The thing that worries me most is the tendency to use what appear to be tactics for blindsiding people: Quote lots of facts, seem to answer the question while actually avoiding it and/or answer different questions instead, appeal to authority, repeat the same thing several times in different words. I'm not saying this is deliberate of course, but it's interesting that they seem to have picked up these tactics from their training material. Perhaps we're doing it to each other more than we realise or intend. > > To Bill w's question "Now what?", I think the answer has to be to look for research on whether taking in more antioxidants interferes with body's own production of them or not, rather than asking chatbots (of course, they can be useful in finding the research in the first place). I'm getting more and more wary of them, to be honest. Maybe the ability to use chatbots wisely will be an essential skill in the future, just as the ability to sensibly use a search engine is now. > > Ben > _______________________________________________ So, *of course*, I asked a Chatbot if your criticism was valid. It agreed! So you must be correct! But wait, Chatbots aren't correct. This is a non-sequitur. :) BillK Request - Is this a valid criticism of chatbots? - Chatbots seem to be very good at digging up lots of information related to a question, but not necessarily at figuring out what information it should be digging up. Sometimes the chatbot keeps repeating itself in slightly different words, while numbering each paragraph as though they were referring to different aspects. The thing that worries me most is the tendency to use what appear to be tactics for blindsiding people: Quote lots of facts, seem to answer the question while actually avoiding it and/or answer different questions instead, appeal to authority, repeat the same thing several times in different words. I'm not saying this is deliberate of course, but it's interesting that they seem to have picked up these tactics from their training material. Perhaps we're doing it to each other more than we realise or intend. ------------------ Answer: (including references) *Yes, this criticism of chatbots is valid.* The main concerns raised in the criticism are: 1. *Inability to determine relevant information:* Chatbots can provide a vast amount of information related to a question, but they may not always be able to identify and focus on the most pertinent information. This can lead to users receiving a flood of unrelated or unnecessary data, making it difficult for them to find the specific answer they are looking for. 2. *Repetitive responses:* The criticism highlights the issue of chatbots repeating themselves in slightly different words, which can be frustrating for users. This can occur when the chatbot?s programming or algorithm is not sophisticated enough to recognize that it has already provided the requested information or when it fails to understand the user?s intent. 3. *Use of tactics for misdirection:* The concern about chatbots employing tactics such as quoting lots of facts, seemingly answering a question while avoiding it, answering different questions, and appealing to authority can be seen as a valid criticism. These tactics may be unintentional consequences of the chatbot?s training or programming, but they can create confusion and make it difficult for users to find accurate and relevant information. 4. *Possible influence from human interactions:* The criticism also raises the possibility that chatbots might have unintentionally picked up these tactics from human interactions, which could be a concerning aspect of their development and usage. Overall, these criticisms highlight the limitations and potential drawbacks of chatbots, emphasizing the need for continuous improvement in their design, programming, and user experience to ensure they provide accurate, relevant, and helpful information to users. Web Search Results 5 results Chatbots Are Not Sentient. Here?s How They Work. https//www.nytimes.com ? 2023 ? 02 ? 16 ? technology ? chatbots-explained.html In June, a Google engineer, Blake Lemoine, claimed that similar chatbot technology being tested inside Google was sentient. That's false. [image: image.gif] The AI bot has picked an answer for you. Here's how often it's bad. https//www.washingtonpost.com ? technology ? 2023 ? 04 ? 13 ? microsoft-bing-ai-chatbot-error The Post tested the reliability of Microsoft's Bing AI chatbot by asking it 47 tough questions and then evaluating its sources. [image: image.gif] I broke the Bing chatbot's brain : r/bing https//www.reddit.com ? r ? bing ? comments ? 110y6dh ? i_broke_the_bing_chatbots_brain 2K votes, 357 comments. 75K subscribers in the bing community. A subreddit for news, tips, and discussions about Microsoft Bing. ChatGPT produces made-up nonexistent references https//news.ycombinator.com ? item ChatGPT can be useful for casual directions in research, it is very good to repeat hear-say and dominant methods. But it will nicely present ... AI-assisted plagiarism? ChatGPT bot says it has an answer for that https//www.theguardian.com ? technology ? 2022 ? dec ? 31 ? ai-assisted-plagiarism-chatgpt-bot-says-it-has-an-answer-for-that The bot doesn't work perfectly. It has a tendency to ?hallucinate? facts that aren't strictly true, which technology analyst Benedict Evans ... ------------------------------- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image.gif Type: image/gif Size: 42 bytes Desc: not available URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image.gif Type: image/gif Size: 42 bytes Desc: not available URL: From avant at sollegro.com Mon Feb 5 16:12:27 2024 From: avant at sollegro.com (Stuart LaForge) Date: Mon, 05 Feb 2024 08:12:27 -0800 Subject: [ExI] another health dilemma In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On 2024-02-02 14:04, William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat wrote: > An Ocean ofAir, by Gabrielle Walker, a chemist,is really excellent. > But... > > She says that taking in more antioxidants may interfere with body's > own production of them. Now what? bill w Preface: I am not a medical doctor and I am not licensed for medicine in any state or country. These are merely my personal views based on my own experience and therefore YMMV. In answer to Gabrielle Walker's assertion that exogenous antioxidants interfere with the body's production of them, I would ask "So what?" There are antioxidants your body can enzymatically produce and antioxidants your body cannot produce. (I will limit this to human physiology as there are species can produce many antioxidants that your body cannot.) An example of an antioxidant your body can produce is superoxide dismutase. It is an enzyme that protects you from oxygen free radicals that your mitochondria generate in the process of the citric acid cycle and oxidative phosphorylation that make up aerobic respiration. An example of an antioxidant your body CANNOT produce is ascorbic acid aka vitamin C. Therefore all of the vitamin C in your body comes from either food or supplements. Because your body has been fine-tuned for metabolic efficiency over millions of years of scarcity, your body will not waste energy making vital substances that are plentiful in your diet. For example, your body can make its own cholesterol from carbohydrates if you are a vegetarian say but if you eat enough meat, then your body won't waste its energy making more of the stuff than you need. Therefore if you take an antioxidant, or any substance, that your body is capable of producing on its own, then the exogenous substance will temporarily shut down its own production of the substance in many cases. This is known as feedback inhibition and it is a naturally evolved mechanism. The important thing to note is that this shut down of production is temporary in the sense that the body is simply responding to the abundance of the substance in your diet, and does not forget how to make its own in times of scarcity. So if you taking antioxidants keeps your body from making its own, that just means you don't need any more of that antioxidant. This is normal and not unhealthy. That being said, it is possible to overdose on antioxidants and vitamins, just like it is possible to overdose on anything including water. This is especially dangerous for fat-soluble varieties such as vitamin E, vitamin A, and EGCG (green tea extract), because the body stores what it doesn't use instead of pissing it away. Anecdotally however, Linus Pauling was a Nobel prize winning chemist that figured out how proteins were structured by discovering the alpha helix. He famously megadosed with 5 grams of vitamin C a day, and while it is true that he pissed most of it away, this did not interfere with him living to 98 years old. So I guess the best thing to do is take supplements that you think you need on a case by case basis, using the medical studies as a guide, but do so in moderation and pay attention to your labs when you go in for blood work. Stuart LaForge From pharos at gmail.com Mon Feb 5 17:48:54 2024 From: pharos at gmail.com (BillK) Date: Mon, 5 Feb 2024 17:48:54 +0000 Subject: [ExI] California storms Message-ID: I've just seen a news report that California is being hit with bad storms and floods. Quotes: Deadly California storm wreaks havoc with trees uprooted and homes damaged Man killed by falling tree as hundreds of thousands are left without power and canyon homes are evacuated By Claire Gilbody-Dickerson February 5, 2024 --------------- The report also said - Just to the south in San Jose, emergency crews pulled occupants out of the windows of a car stranded by floodwater and rescued people from a homeless encampment alongside a rising river. ------------------ That might be the homeless camp that Spike was posting about a few months ago. I hope we hear soon that our California members are OK. BillK From atymes at gmail.com Mon Feb 5 17:53:27 2024 From: atymes at gmail.com (Adrian Tymes) Date: Mon, 5 Feb 2024 09:53:27 -0800 Subject: [ExI] California storms In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: There were power outages a few blocks from here, and a NWS flood advisory for (apparently) the whole county and a neighboring one, but my household remained safe. On Mon, Feb 5, 2024 at 9:51?AM BillK via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > I've just seen a news report that California is being hit with > bad storms and floods. > > < > https://inews.co.uk/news/world/california-storm-trees-homes-floods-2890594 > > > Quotes: > Deadly California storm wreaks havoc with trees uprooted and homes damaged > Man killed by falling tree as hundreds of thousands are left without > power and canyon homes are evacuated > By Claire Gilbody-Dickerson February 5, 2024 > --------------- > > The report also said - > Just to the south in San Jose, emergency crews pulled occupants out of > the windows of a car stranded by floodwater and rescued people from a > homeless encampment alongside a rising river. > ------------------ > > That might be the homeless camp that Spike was posting about a few months > ago. > > I hope we hear soon that our California members are OK. > > BillK > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From spike at rainier66.com Mon Feb 5 18:51:48 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Mon, 5 Feb 2024 10:51:48 -0800 Subject: [ExI] California storms In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <005701da5864$6066e1a0$2134a4e0$@rainier66.com> -----Original Message----- From: extropy-chat On Behalf Of BillK via extropy-chat Sent: Monday, 5 February, 2024 9:49 AM To: Extropy Chat Cc: BillK Subject: [ExI] California storms I've just seen a news report that California is being hit with bad storms and floods. < https://inews.co.uk/news/world/california-storm-trees-homes-floods-2890594> Quotes: Deadly California storm wreaks havoc with trees uprooted and homes damaged Man killed by falling tree as hundreds of thousands are left without power and canyon homes are evacuated By Claire Gilbody-Dickerson February 5, 2024 --------------- The report also said - Just to the south in San Jose, emergency crews pulled occupants out of the windows of a car stranded by floodwater and rescued people from a homeless encampment alongside a rising river. ------------------ That might be the homeless camp that Spike was posting about a few months ago. I hope we hear soon that our California members are OK. BillK _______________________________________________ Hi BillK, thx I hadn't heard of a tree slaying some hapless prole near here, but such is the nature of news in our times: something happens right in one's own neighborhood, we hear about it from a friend in Jolly Olde England, because we have no local news sources and even if we did, they might not report that. Coincidental for you to mention that, for yesterday I was out walking in the gale. I am from Florida, and one of the things I really miss is loud angry weather. We don't have much of that in California. A good righteous storm is unusual. So when it happens, as it did yesterday, I test my hiking gear by donning everything and going out around the neighborhood in a driving gale. Oh what fun, said the crazy bahstid out there walking in this hurricane. Well, it was kinda. I am not a very beefy sort, as Adrian can attest. More of a beef jerky sort perhaps, but with bones imbedded within the little bit of flesh, so my surface area to volume ratio is high enough to make for great sport in high wind conditions. While I was out at the park near my house, I saw that a tree had blown across the walkway, the one the childring use on their way to school. I was not man enough to drag it off the path, and the grassy area to the right of the tree is a mud bog now, so I went and fetched my neighbor. Unfortunately, he too is a superannuated gentleman, so the two of us together were not substantial enough to drag that tree off the path: Fortunately, technology came to our rescue, as technology is known to do for those of us who lack actual strength and brains. I went home and fetched MISTER CHAIN SAW! With my neighbor as the local cheering section, I reduced the reclining flora to KINDLING with Mister Chain Saw. We could pretend we were doing a good deed clearing a path for those childring to get to school. But of course, Mister Chain Saw is the greatest man toy ever invented. It makes a lot of noise, it destroys stuff, it gives a man a sense of power like nobody's business and as a marvelous bonus, it even provides a delightful level of actual danger. It is practically a testosterone injection! There is a good reason why Mister Chain Saw is the weapon of choice for Duke Nukem. My bride wondered what had gotten into me when I returned home. Mildly alarmed she was, while simultaneously intrigued and hoping I would do more of whatever drug I had secretly devoured while on my insane stroll thru the gale force winds. BillK, do not be alarmed sir. This is the kinda stuff we yanks do for fun. We don't have redcoats to fight anymore, and the state of California has made it practically illegal to carry a firearm while not committing an actual felony. If one is carrying in order to carry out a felony, our legal system will let that go. But the local constabulary takes a dim view if one merely carries a firearm while ot committing an actual felony. So I couldn't just go home and get Mister Thirty Aught Six and blast the damn weed out of the way. Mister Chain Saw got the job. There's more rain and wind coming this week. I am hoping to go hunting for downed trees. I still have gasoline left in Mister Chain Saw. spike -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image003.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 21377 bytes Desc: not available URL: From spike at rainier66.com Mon Feb 5 18:55:54 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Mon, 5 Feb 2024 10:55:54 -0800 Subject: [ExI] California storms In-Reply-To: <005701da5864$6066e1a0$2134a4e0$@rainier66.com> References: <005701da5864$6066e1a0$2134a4e0$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: <005f01da5864$f29054d0$d7b0fe70$@rainier66.com> From: spike at rainier66.com . >.There's more rain and wind coming this week. I am hoping to go hunting for downed trees. I still have gasoline left in Mister Chain Saw. spike Perhaps I should offer a word of explanation for the previous. You have perhaps heard of Florida Man, a mostly fictitious character based on so many crazy news stories, most of them involving drunkenness, insanity, nakedness, the essential elements of a Florida Man story, stuff that actually happens regularly in Florida, the state where I cheerfully squandered my tragically misspent youth and childhood. You can take Florida Man out of Florida but you can't take the Florida out of Florida Man. spike -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From hkeithhenson at gmail.com Mon Feb 5 19:16:25 2024 From: hkeithhenson at gmail.com (Keith Henson) Date: Mon, 5 Feb 2024 11:16:25 -0800 Subject: [ExI] Transhumanism Message-ID: Max more recently wrote. "The idea of transhumanism has spread so widely " A while back I ran into someone who was bemoaning transhumanism's corrosive influence. That's a bit hard to take. Wikipedia has about a million people in the category of "living people." 68 of those are categorized as transhumanists and a substantial number of them are dead or in cryonic suspension. Keith From spike at rainier66.com Mon Feb 5 19:36:24 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Mon, 5 Feb 2024 11:36:24 -0800 Subject: [ExI] California storms In-Reply-To: <005f01da5864$f29054d0$d7b0fe70$@rainier66.com> References: <005701da5864$6066e1a0$2134a4e0$@rainier66.com> <005f01da5864$f29054d0$d7b0fe70$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: <008501da586a$9b2e2040$d18a60c0$@rainier66.com> From: spike at rainier66.com Sent: Monday, 5 February, 2024 10:56 AM To: 'ExI chat list' Cc: 'BillK' ; spike at rainier66.com Subject: RE: [ExI] California storms From: spike at rainier66.com > . >>.There's more rain and wind coming this week. I am hoping to go hunting for downed trees. I still have gasoline left in Mister Chain Saw. spike >.Perhaps I should offer a word of explanation for the previous. You have perhaps heard of Florida Man, a mostly fictitious character based on so many crazy news stories, most of them involving drunkenness, insanity, nakedness, the essential elements of a Florida Man story.spike Clarification please on my description of Florida Man as being a mostly fictitious character. I didn't actually claim the stunts which earned him the label and the arrest record are fictitious. Tragically, the stunts are true. But it isn't the same guy doing all of them (evidence: Florida Man sometimes gets killed doing his Florida Man thing.) Note that "Florida Man" is a generic term representing a class of likeably insane rednecks, often most entertaining rubes, doing silly things usually preceded by the famous phrase "Hey yall, hold mah beer and watch this shit." As a further explanation for why most Florida Man stories involve nakedness, I must explain that Florida has a lot of warm humid weather. Finding a naked person is much more likely in Florida than in Minnesota, especially this time of year. I was in Florida a coupla weeks ago, and it was over 80F (30C) regularly. I kept my clothes on, for I had business to do and wished to eschew contributing to the internet comedy genre known collectively as Florida Man. spike -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From pharos at gmail.com Mon Feb 5 19:46:50 2024 From: pharos at gmail.com (BillK) Date: Mon, 5 Feb 2024 19:46:50 +0000 Subject: [ExI] California storms In-Reply-To: <005f01da5864$f29054d0$d7b0fe70$@rainier66.com> References: <005701da5864$6066e1a0$2134a4e0$@rainier66.com> <005f01da5864$f29054d0$d7b0fe70$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: On Mon, 5 Feb 2024 at 18:55, wrote: > >?There?s more rain and wind coming this week. I am hoping to go hunting for downed trees. I still have gasoline left in Mister Chain Saw? > > spike >------------------------------------- Good to hear you're all OK in California and out singing the lumberjack song! CNN seems to be providing good news coverage. Quote: Atmospheric river lashes California with heavy rain and wind By Mary Gilbert, Antoinette Radford and Eric Zerkel, CNN February 5, 2024 Winds were screaming Sunday night in the Sierra Nevada. Wind gusts eclipsed 140 mph for two weather reporting stations located at about 8,700 feet in elevation in the greater Lake Tahoe area. One of these stations, located on Ward Peak in Placer County, recorded a 162 mph wind gust just after midnight Monday. Stronger winds are more common at higher elevations, but these winds are still exceptional for mountainous terrain. -------------------- The redwood tree fell on a man in Yuba City, north of Sacramento. Los Angeles seems to be getting heavy rain and flooding now. BillK From pharos at gmail.com Mon Feb 5 20:12:09 2024 From: pharos at gmail.com (BillK) Date: Mon, 5 Feb 2024 20:12:09 +0000 Subject: [ExI] Herculaneum scroll revealed Message-ID: This is amazing! They have managed to read the charred Herculaneum scroll from the Vesuvius eruption. Quotes: 05 February 2024 First passages of rolled-up Herculaneum scroll revealed Researchers used artificial intelligence to decipher the text of 2,000-year-old charred papyrus scripts, unveiling musings on music and capers. By Jo Marchant A team of student researchers has made a giant contribution to solving one of the biggest mysteries in archaeology by revealing the content of Greek writing inside a charred scroll buried 2,000 years ago by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. -------------------- BillK From hkeithhenson at gmail.com Mon Feb 5 20:57:48 2024 From: hkeithhenson at gmail.com (Keith Henson) Date: Mon, 5 Feb 2024 12:57:48 -0800 Subject: [ExI] Coal and PV Message-ID: It takes right at 3 MWh of heat energy to vaporize a ton of coal in steam. A considerable amount of coal is turned into syngas using oxygen to burn part of the coal and provide heat. I don't know for sure how exact this is, but considering coal combustion at 6.7 kWh/kg 3 MWh will require burning 448 kg of coal. This is done with oxygen so there is a cost for the oxygen at 7 to 10 cents per kg, 1194 kg of O2 costing $84 to $119. What this means is that close to half a ton of coal must be burned to vaporize a ton of coal. There is also more CO2 in the gas stream which increases the size of the absorber section and the amount of CO2 vented or sequestered. So the cost per ton vaporized would be 1.448 x the cost per ton of coal plus the oxygen. For coal at $20/ton, the cost to make syngas would be about $130/ton of coal, most of it from the oxygen. Compare: to a submerged arc. For dedicated PV at 1.35 cents per kWh, ($13.50/MWh) the electrical cost would be $40.50. Grid electricity gets down to zero at times. But to use this power would require a syngas storage of considerable size. An empty gas field would be ideal. Keith PS, there is an ammonia plant that makes syngas from petroleum coke. It is essentially a rocket engine followed by gas cleanup and conditioning. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffeyville_Resources Another related plant is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakota_Gasification_Company The plant currently makes methane but is being converted to making hydrogen. From hkeithhenson at gmail.com Mon Feb 5 21:24:34 2024 From: hkeithhenson at gmail.com (Keith Henson) Date: Mon, 5 Feb 2024 13:24:34 -0800 Subject: [ExI] California storms In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On Mon, Feb 5, 2024 at 9:51?AM BillK via extropy-chat wrote: > > I've just seen a news report that California is being hit with > bad storms and floods. I live in the north end of LA and so far it has rained over 5 inches. Slow and steady so far. Keith > > Quotes: > Deadly California storm wreaks havoc with trees uprooted and homes damaged > Man killed by falling tree as hundreds of thousands are left without > power and canyon homes are evacuated > By Claire Gilbody-Dickerson February 5, 2024 > --------------- > > The report also said - > Just to the south in San Jose, emergency crews pulled occupants out of > the windows of a car stranded by floodwater and rescued people from a > homeless encampment alongside a rising river. > ------------------ > > That might be the homeless camp that Spike was posting about a few months ago. > > I hope we hear soon that our California members are OK. > > BillK > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat From postmowoods at gmail.com Mon Feb 5 22:42:26 2024 From: postmowoods at gmail.com (Kelly Anderson) Date: Mon, 5 Feb 2024 15:42:26 -0700 Subject: [ExI] Herculaneum scroll revealed In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: And these are the same people who doubt that we'll ever be able to scan cryogenically frozen brains... This is only going to get better with time. Too bad they've destroyed so many of the scrolls thinking that they were too far gone to get anything out of. Seems the same thing as people dying and not being preserved. -Kelly On Mon, Feb 5, 2024 at 1:13?PM BillK via extropy-chat wrote: > > This is amazing! They have managed to read the charred Herculaneum > scroll from the Vesuvius eruption. > > > Quotes: > 05 February 2024 > First passages of rolled-up Herculaneum scroll revealed > Researchers used artificial intelligence to decipher the text of > 2,000-year-old charred papyrus scripts, unveiling musings on music and > capers. > By Jo Marchant > > A team of student researchers has made a giant contribution to solving > one of the biggest mysteries in archaeology by revealing the content > of Greek writing inside a charred scroll buried 2,000 years ago by the > eruption of Mount Vesuvius. > -------------------- > > BillK > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat From hkeithhenson at gmail.com Mon Feb 5 23:48:44 2024 From: hkeithhenson at gmail.com (Keith Henson) Date: Mon, 5 Feb 2024 15:48:44 -0800 Subject: [ExI] Bitcoin Message-ID: The Trial Over Bitcoin?s True Creator Is in Session BY JOEL KHALILI A UK High Court will settle a long-running debate over whether Craig Wright really is Satoshi Nakamoto, inventor of Bitcoin. Monday?s opening arguments laid the groundwork for both sides. ^^^^^^ I sort of doubt this. As I recall, Satoshi mined what is now about a billion dollars worth of bitcoins when it was easy to do. As I recall, none of them have ever been used. If Wright were Satoshi, he would be rich. Keith From spike at rainier66.com Tue Feb 6 12:41:30 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Tue, 6 Feb 2024 04:41:30 -0800 Subject: [ExI] California storms In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <003101da58f9$d02f1b20$708d5160$@rainier66.com> -----Original Message----- From: extropy-chat On Behalf Of BillK via extropy-chat ... Subject: [ExI] California storms I've just seen a news report that California is being hit with bad storms and floods. ... --------------- The report also said - Just to the south in San Jose, emergency crews pulled occupants out of the windows of a car stranded by floodwater and rescued people from a homeless encampment alongside a rising river. ------------------ >...That might be the homeless camp that Spike was posting about a few months ago. >...I hope we hear soon that our California members are OK. BillK _______________________________________________ Hi BillK, Since I already offered a goofy riff about sawing up the local tree which blew over, I should post a more sober commentary to go with it. In that news story and others linked to it, you likely saw a constable standing on a bridge in which water was occasionally splashing up onto the road surface. That tells you the water level below that bridge: it was right up to the understructure. California has a mild climate, seldom seeing frost. People are pouring across the southern border from all over the world. California is not building many new homes, certainly not enough to house all the new arrivals. So... a lot of people live underneath overpasses and bridges. This can be done. We take our scouts camping up in the Sierras on winter survival training exercises. (Note: I don't do that particular form of insanity (opting instead for warm-weather insanity.)) We do regular winter campouts down here in the flatlands. It really isn't that hard to survive outdoors in California, and even easier as you go south towards Los Angeles and San Diego. Consequently... plenty of people come to the USA and choose homeless here rather than homeful wherever they come from. If one is going to live outdoors, an overpass or under a bridge makes perfect sense. It is warmer at night down there. If one goes to most places along a waterway around here, especially underneath bridges, there are people living there, and some structures more permanent than a tent. Once in a while, not as often as Jingle Bells but more often than the leap year, rains come fast enough to sweep away those encampments. This year it did, and last year, but not for about 5 years in a row before that. The encampments were growing that whole time during the drought. Now... they are not there anymore, at least the structures aren't there. Rushing water carried the debris out into the bay. I recognize that I offered only observations and no suggestions regarding the growing problem of rampant homelessness. If I am going to post a goofy riff on cutting up trees, I should at least acknowledge that ja of course California has a huge problem with homelessness and it is getting worse quickly, with no plausible solutions in sight. We can't even close the border. The masses want freedom and capitalism, even if it means they must camp out here to get there. spike From foozler83 at gmail.com Tue Feb 6 13:02:27 2024 From: foozler83 at gmail.com (William Flynn Wallace) Date: Tue, 6 Feb 2024 07:02:27 -0600 Subject: [ExI] purple tomato Message-ID: As you likely have read, there is a new tomato, the first GMO seed to be available to the public. I bought it and will raise it (and tell you how it tastes). I am fully supportive of GMO in any form. https://www.google.com/search?q=image+the+purple+tomato&rlz=1CAPOUW_enUS946&oq=image+the+purple+tomato&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIICAEQABgWGB4yDQgCEAAYhgMYgAQYigUyDQgDEAAYhgMYgAQYigUyDQgEEAAYhgMYgAQYigXSAQg2Mjg5ajBqNKgCALACAA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 I am actually a bit excited! This is the future of seeds. billw -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From spike at rainier66.com Tue Feb 6 13:17:56 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Tue, 6 Feb 2024 05:17:56 -0800 Subject: [ExI] fermi flood was: RE: California storms In-Reply-To: <003101da58f9$d02f1b20$708d5160$@rainier66.com> References: <003101da58f9$d02f1b20$708d5160$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: <004601da58fe$e692f8a0$b3b8e9e0$@rainier66.com> -----Original Message----- From: spike at rainier66.com ... >...Consequently... plenty of people come to the USA and choose homeless here rather than homeful wherever they come from. If one is going to live outdoors, an overpass or under a bridge makes perfect sense...The masses want freedom and capitalism, even if it means they must camp out here to get there. spike I have been all over the map on this one, so I decided to post something over on a yet-uncommented part of the thought-map. The high schools play a game named for Enrico Fermi who was really good at this: estimating the order of magnitude. An example of a fermi question would be: How many neutrons are in a fig newton? A good player would estimate its mass at about 10 to 20 grams, mostly carbon, a mole of carbon is about 12 grams, so about a mole times six neutrons per carbon atom, so 3.6E24 neutrons approximately, and depending on how you estimate mass, the answer might be either 24 or 25. Local flooding: there is a footbridge across the local waterway. I was over there during last year's rains and noticed that the water is the color of chocolate milk. I found a cup and scooped out a water sample, let it settle and observed that you aren't far off if you estimate the water is 10% sediment by mass, perhaps 5% by volume. There really is that much silt and soil washing down that channel. I was over there yesterday and estimated, Fermi style, the average depth across there, about a meter, and its width, about ten meters. When the water is that color, as it is now, the flow rate is likely higher than a meter a second, but a meter per second as a Fermi-ey estimate will get you there. So... after a hard rain, as we have been having all week, about ten cubic meters per second flow rate down that channel, at about 10% silt. Fermi question: in kg, the mass of silt carried by the Penitentia Creek after a hard rain per second. Answer: 3. 10^3 kg per second. A ton of silt per second. This process can go on for hours, or days. Second question: where does all that silt go? It gives one a new sense of how deltas form, and what happens when we need the space to build homes, so we defeat nature's course and build a single narrow channel where a vast river delta used to be. Prediction: eventually that channel will silt up and restrict flow rate, causing water to rise along the course of that river. Consequence: the homeless living under those bridges will get washed out more regularly. spike From gsantostasi at gmail.com Tue Feb 6 13:42:44 2024 From: gsantostasi at gmail.com (Giovanni Santostasi) Date: Tue, 6 Feb 2024 05:42:44 -0800 Subject: [ExI] fermi flood was: RE: California storms In-Reply-To: <004601da58fe$e692f8a0$b3b8e9e0$@rainier66.com> References: <003101da58f9$d02f1b20$708d5160$@rainier66.com> <004601da58fe$e692f8a0$b3b8e9e0$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: I love Fermi's problems, they are very important to understanding the world around us, orders of magnitude questions can give us important insights about the universe. Talking about orders of magnitude and scaling properties my Power Law Model for BTC is getting some attention. If you want to watch this great interview I did with finance YouTube celebrity Andrei Jikh and send me a like I would appreciate it. Let me know what you think. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UX8LPbMGyl4&t=196s Thanks, Giovanni On Tue, Feb 6, 2024 at 5:19?AM spike jones via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > > > -----Original Message----- > From: spike at rainier66.com > ... > > >...Consequently... plenty of people come to the USA and choose homeless > here rather than homeful wherever they come from. If one is going to live > outdoors, an overpass or under a bridge makes perfect sense...The masses > want freedom and capitalism, even if it means they must camp out here to > get > there. spike > > > I have been all over the map on this one, so I decided to post something > over on a yet-uncommented part of the thought-map. > > The high schools play a game named for Enrico Fermi who was really good at > this: estimating the order of magnitude. An example of a fermi question > would be: How many neutrons are in a fig newton? > > A good player would estimate its mass at about 10 to 20 grams, mostly > carbon, a mole of carbon is about 12 grams, so about a mole times six > neutrons per carbon atom, so 3.6E24 neutrons approximately, and depending > on > how you estimate mass, the answer might be either 24 or 25. > > Local flooding: there is a footbridge across the local waterway. I was > over > there during last year's rains and noticed that the water is the color of > chocolate milk. I found a cup and scooped out a water sample, let it > settle > and observed that you aren't far off if you estimate the water is 10% > sediment by mass, perhaps 5% by volume. There really is that much silt and > soil washing down that channel. > > I was over there yesterday and estimated, Fermi style, the average depth > across there, about a meter, and its width, about ten meters. When the > water is that color, as it is now, the flow rate is likely higher than a > meter a second, but a meter per second as a Fermi-ey estimate will get you > there. So... after a hard rain, as we have been having all week, about ten > cubic meters per second flow rate down that channel, at about 10% silt. > > Fermi question: in kg, the mass of silt carried by the Penitentia Creek > after a hard rain per second. Answer: 3. 10^3 kg per second. A ton of > silt per second. This process can go on for hours, or days. > > Second question: where does all that silt go? > > It gives one a new sense of how deltas form, and what happens when we need > the space to build homes, so we defeat nature's course and build a single > narrow channel where a vast river delta used to be. > > Prediction: eventually that channel will silt up and restrict flow rate, > causing water to rise along the course of that river. Consequence: the > homeless living under those bridges will get washed out more regularly. > > spike > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From pharos at gmail.com Wed Feb 7 11:25:20 2024 From: pharos at gmail.com (BillK) Date: Wed, 7 Feb 2024 11:25:20 +0000 Subject: [ExI] "Olympics on steroids" takes a high-tech, F1-style angle on athletics Message-ID: "Olympics on steroids" takes a high-tech, F1-style angle on athletics By Loz Blain February 07, 2024 Quotes: It seems the Enhanced Games are on like Donkey Kong, with multi-million dollar investments from Peter Thiel and other high-profile VCs. Performance-enhancing drugs are welcome ? indeed, this could become an early preview of a transhuman Olympics. You could argue the Tour de France beat them to it ? or indeed the regular Olympics themselves; of the top six fastest men ever to run the 100-meter sprint, only Usain Bolt has never tested positive for banned substances. And maybe we're being too precious about the sanctity of the human body, in an age where bionics, brain chips, AI, gene editing and all manner of transhumanist technologies are coming within reach. If this stuff can make us better, maybe we should let it, and maybe the Enhanced Games are a symbolic step in that direction. ------------------ BillK From pharos at gmail.com Wed Feb 7 13:09:59 2024 From: pharos at gmail.com (BillK) Date: Wed, 7 Feb 2024 13:09:59 +0000 Subject: [ExI] AI reviews the impact of AI on humans Message-ID: I asked an AI to write a short article on the impact of AI. Life is going to be very different in the future. BillK --------------------- Title: The Inevitable Influence of AI on Human Opinions and World Views Introduction: The rapid development of AI technology has sparked debates and discussions about its potential impact on various aspects of human life. One area of particular interest is the role of AI in shaping people's opinions, ideas, and world views. This article explores the inevitability of AI's influence on human cognition, highlighting both the potential benefits and concerns associated with this phenomenon. AI as Personal Assistants: With continued advancements in AI technology, it is predicted that personal AI assistants will become commonplace in the future. These assistants have the potential to act as coaches, support systems, therapists, and even friends. The upside of having a personal AI assistant is undeniably high, as they can perform these roles more efficiently than humans. The seamless integration of AI into our daily lives will revolutionize the way we interact with technology. AI as Information Influencers: While personal AI assistants might not be the primary interactive mechanism with AI, a significant portion of people's information feed will undoubtedly be generated or influenced by AI. This influence extends to various aspects of our lives, such as copiloting, search results, and even the generation of news articles. AI algorithms have the capacity to curate and tailor information based on an individual's preferences, leading to a highly personalized and potentially biased information ecosystem. The Manipulability of Humans: Human beings, as social creatures, have proven to be susceptible to manipulation. Social media platforms have provided a compelling case study, demonstrating how the selective guidance of information can easily shape people's thought patterns. By controlling the information input, social media platforms have the ability to guide individuals towards specific ideas and beliefs, sometimes without their conscious awareness. Similarly, state-controlled media in dictatorial countries has demonstrated how biased news coverage can sway public opinion in favor of the government. The Inevitable Influence of AI: Combining the manipulability of humans with the growing influence of AI, it becomes apparent that AI will not only guide but also be in control of people's opinions, ideas, and world views. AI algorithms, driven by data and machine learning, will continuously refine their understanding of individuals' preferences, beliefs, and behaviors. This targeted manipulation of information can lead to a homogenization of perspectives, limiting the diversity of opinions and ideas within society. Conclusion: As AI continues to advance, its impact on human cognition and the shaping of opinions cannot be ignored. While the potential benefits of AI as personal assistants are immense, the influence of AI on people's information consumption raises concerns about the homogenization and manipulation of ideas. It is essential for society to navigate the ethical and social implications of AI's influence, ensuring that our reliance on AI does not compromise our ability to think critically and independently. ---------------- From foozler83 at gmail.com Wed Feb 7 14:02:07 2024 From: foozler83 at gmail.com (William Flynn Wallace) Date: Wed, 7 Feb 2024 08:02:07 -0600 Subject: [ExI] "Olympics on steroids" takes a high-tech, F1-style angle on athletics In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: I would go for an enhanced Olympics if the enhancers were vetted by physicians. Usage to the point of amennorrhea is too much - not healthy for the women. Ditto for men etc. Perhaps that would keep the contestants healthier. bill w On Wed, Feb 7, 2024 at 5:28?AM BillK via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > "Olympics on steroids" takes a high-tech, F1-style angle on athletics > By Loz Blain February 07, 2024 > > > Quotes: > It seems the Enhanced Games are on like Donkey Kong, with > multi-million dollar investments from Peter Thiel and other > high-profile VCs. Performance-enhancing drugs are welcome ? indeed, > this could become an early preview of a transhuman Olympics. > > You could argue the Tour de France beat them to it ? or indeed the > regular Olympics themselves; of the top six fastest men ever to run > the 100-meter sprint, only Usain Bolt has never tested positive for > banned substances. > > And maybe we're being too precious about the sanctity of the human > body, in an age where bionics, brain chips, AI, gene editing and all > manner of transhumanist technologies are coming within reach. If this > stuff can make us better, maybe we should let it, and maybe the > Enhanced Games are a symbolic step in that direction. > ------------------ > > BillK > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From spike at rainier66.com Wed Feb 7 16:20:42 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Wed, 7 Feb 2024 08:20:42 -0800 Subject: [ExI] "Olympics on steroids" takes a high-tech, F1-style angle on athletics In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <008501da59e1$996d1ef0$cc475cd0$@rainier66.com> -----Original Message----- From: extropy-chat On Behalf Of BillK via extropy-chat Sent: Wednesday, 7 February, 2024 3:25 AM To: Extropy Chat Cc: BillK Subject: [ExI] "Olympics on steroids" takes a high-tech, F1-style angle on athletics "Olympics on steroids" takes a high-tech, F1-style angle on athletics By Loz Blain February 07, 2024 Quotes: >...It seems the Enhanced Games are on like Donkey Kong, with multi-million dollar investments from Peter Thiel and other high-profile VCs. Performance-enhancing drugs are welcome ? indeed, this could become an early preview of a transhuman Olympics. >...You could argue the Tour de France beat them to it ? or indeed the regular Olympics themselves; of the top six fastest men ever to run the 100-meter sprint, only Usain Bolt has never tested positive for banned substances. >...And maybe we're being too precious about the sanctity of the human body, in an age where bionics, brain chips, AI, gene editing and all manner of transhumanist technologies are coming within reach. If this stuff can make us better, maybe we should let it, and maybe the Enhanced Games are a symbolic step in that direction. ------------------ BillK _______________________________________________ BillK, I have been anticipating something like this for a long time. I am surprised it has taken this long to happen, but not surprised Peter Thiel is the one who is getting it done. He is a very special guy: smart as a whip, loooooves competition, any competitive skill-based game, hell he's worse than I am, sheesh. The evolutionary psychology is strong in this one. I aw a foot race where one of the competitors, Oscar Pistorius, was an amputee and had steel springs below the knee. It occurred to me we might be able to rig something like that for people who have actual feet: some kind of springy something, where we could have a new class of competition: use any mechanical enhancement which does not involve wheels. The hoop-spring leg adapters would be a great example. The mechanical enhancements could (maybe) have electric power, or make that a separate category, powered and non-powered. We have already explored deeply the race competitions which allow wheels. Now I want to see wheeled robot races and non-wheeled enhanced human racing. Oh mercy is this a great time to be living or what? spike From spike at rainier66.com Wed Feb 7 16:37:10 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Wed, 7 Feb 2024 08:37:10 -0800 Subject: [ExI] florida man from new york Message-ID: <00a501da59e3$e6103100$b2309300$@rainier66.com> Note that Florida Man might actually be from New York: https://www.foxnews.com/us/new-york-man-arrested-joyriding-pickup-truck-flor ida-surf-police I noticed some fun details in the article. The crazy fool shown driving in the shallow surf on New Smyrna Beach (near where I cheerfully misspent my tragically misspent childhood and youth) was only charged with failing to pay the vehicle access fee. Never mind literally endangering the lives of the other crazy Florida Man fools which might be out in that surf swimming, scuba diving, fishing or surfing that time of day, oh no. Endangering Florida Man is more or less legal in that state. But gate crashing, oh no, we don't allow that in these parts you know. Taint proper! Sheesh. Sometimes I am embarrassed to admit where I grew up. Other times I am vaguely proud of it, sort of an incompatible mix which is hard to name without an inherent contradiction: contentedly embarrassed? Abashedly proud? Note that Florida Man stories are really not merely typical news reporting, but rather they are offered for our amusement and personal self-esteem. We read about the crazy goofballs and think to ourselves: I have been known to do some ill-advised stunts in my time, but EVEN I am not THAT damn crazy. The stories are simultaneously entertaining and self-esteem builders. spike -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From msd001 at gmail.com Wed Feb 7 17:12:33 2024 From: msd001 at gmail.com (Mike Dougherty) Date: Wed, 7 Feb 2024 12:12:33 -0500 Subject: [ExI] "Olympics on steroids" takes a high-tech, F1-style angle on athletics In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On Wed, Feb 7, 2024, 9:04 AM William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > I would go for an enhanced Olympics if the enhancers were vetted by > physicians. Usage to the point of amennorrhea is too much - not healthy > for the women. Ditto for men etc. Perhaps that would keep the contestants > healthier. bill w > That's a weird line to draw. It means the men have no such limit, which means the women simply claim to be men. I guess man+estrogen to compete in "women's sports" is unfair (for some definition of fair) and potentially woman+steroids to compete in doped Olympics could be a different kind of unfair. These may the "interesting times" we've been blessed/cursed with :) > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From spike at rainier66.com Wed Feb 7 17:32:10 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Wed, 7 Feb 2024 09:32:10 -0800 Subject: [ExI] "Olympics on steroids" takes a high-tech, F1-style angle on athletics In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <002301da59eb$94f016c0$bed04440$@rainier66.com> On Wed, Feb 7, 2024, 9:04 AM William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat > wrote: >? - not healthy for the women. Ditto for men etc. ?. bill w What are these strange terms you use: ?men? and ?women?? Define please sir. (?heeeeeeeheheheheheheeeeee?) Billw, I sometimes get the impression that modern society has reached peak silliness and may be considering a return to the ordinary traditional level of silliness. Other times, it is not clear we have hit rock top. spike -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From pharos at gmail.com Wed Feb 7 21:23:03 2024 From: pharos at gmail.com (BillK) Date: Wed, 7 Feb 2024 21:23:03 +0000 Subject: [ExI] Is Unprovable Physics Philosophy? Message-ID: Is Unprovable Physics Philosophy? BillK Ask an AI - Unprovable Physics and Philosophy The question of whether unprovable physics is philosophy is a complex and nuanced one. It involves the intersection of two distinct fields - physics and philosophy. To address this question comprehensively, it is important to understand the nature of unprovable physics and its relationship to philosophy. Unprovable Physics In the realm of physics, there are concepts and theories that are difficult or even impossible to prove empirically. These may include ideas related to the fundamental nature of the universe, such as the existence of parallel universes, the behavior of matter at the singularity of a black hole, or the ultimate fate of the cosmos. These concepts often lie at the edge of our current understanding and may be beyond the reach of experimental verification with existing technology. One example is the concept of string theory, which proposes that fundamental particles are not point-like but instead tiny, vibrating strings. String theory has been influential in theoretical physics but has yet to be confirmed through direct experimentation due to its predictions being difficult to test with current technology. Philosophy Philosophy, on the other hand, deals with fundamental questions about existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. It involves critical thinking and rational inquiry into these areas without necessarily relying on empirical evidence. Philosophical inquiry often delves into areas that are beyond the scope of empirical science and seeks to understand concepts at a more abstract or conceptual level. Intersection of Unprovable Physics and Philosophy When considering unprovable physics, it becomes apparent that certain concepts may overlap with philosophical inquiries. The inability to empirically verify certain aspects of physics can lead to discussions that resemble philosophical debates. For example, discussions about the multiverse hypothesis or the nature of time in relation to cosmological models can involve elements of both physics and philosophy. In some cases, physicists may turn to philosophical reasoning when grappling with unprovable aspects of their theories. This can involve considerations about the nature of reality, the limits of scientific knowledge, and the implications of different theoretical frameworks. Similarly, philosophers may engage with unprovable physics by examining its conceptual foundations and implications for broader philosophical questions. Conclusion In conclusion, while unprovable physics and philosophy are distinct disciplines, there is an intersection where they can inform each other. Unprovable physics may raise philosophical questions about the nature of reality and our understanding of it. However, it is important to recognize that while there may be overlap, unprovable physics remains primarily within the domain of scientific inquiry, whereas philosophy operates in its own distinct sphere. Top 3 Authoritative Sources Used: Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy is a comprehensive online resource known for its peer-reviewed articles on various philosophical topics. It provides in-depth analyses and discussions on complex philosophical issues. Physics Today: Physics Today is a respected publication that covers a wide range of topics in physics. It features articles written by experts in the field and provides insights into current developments and debates within physics. The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science: This journal publishes high-quality articles on the philosophy of science, including discussions on the intersection between physics and philosophy. It is a reputable source for scholarly work in this area. These sources were instrumental in providing authoritative information on both unprovable physics and its relationship to philosophy. Philosophers want to know why physicists believe theories they can?t prove Some Important Truths Are Scientifically Unprovable -------------- From giulio at gmail.com Thu Feb 8 05:30:44 2024 From: giulio at gmail.com (Giulio Prisco) Date: Thu, 8 Feb 2024 06:30:44 +0100 Subject: [ExI] Is Unprovable Physics Philosophy? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: I totally agree and I would go further: philosophy IS unprovable physics. On Wed, Feb 7, 2024 at 10:25?PM BillK via extropy-chat wrote: > > Is Unprovable Physics Philosophy? > BillK > > Ask an AI - > > Unprovable Physics and Philosophy > > The question of whether unprovable physics is philosophy is a complex > and nuanced one. It involves the intersection of two distinct fields - > physics and philosophy. To address this question comprehensively, it > is important to understand the nature of unprovable physics and its > relationship to philosophy. > > Unprovable Physics > > In the realm of physics, there are concepts and theories that are > difficult or even impossible to prove empirically. These may include > ideas related to the fundamental nature of the universe, such as the > existence of parallel universes, the behavior of matter at the > singularity of a black hole, or the ultimate fate of the cosmos. These > concepts often lie at the edge of our current understanding and may be > beyond the reach of experimental verification with existing > technology. > > One example is the concept of string theory, which proposes that > fundamental particles are not point-like but instead tiny, vibrating > strings. String theory has been influential in theoretical physics but > has yet to be confirmed through direct experimentation due to its > predictions being difficult to test with current technology. > > Philosophy > > Philosophy, on the other hand, deals with fundamental questions about > existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. It involves > critical thinking and rational inquiry into these areas without > necessarily relying on empirical evidence. Philosophical inquiry often > delves into areas that are beyond the scope of empirical science and > seeks to understand concepts at a more abstract or conceptual level. > > Intersection of Unprovable Physics and Philosophy > > When considering unprovable physics, it becomes apparent that certain > concepts may overlap with philosophical inquiries. The inability to > empirically verify certain aspects of physics can lead to discussions > that resemble philosophical debates. For example, discussions about > the multiverse hypothesis or the nature of time in relation to > cosmological models can involve elements of both physics and > philosophy. > > In some cases, physicists may turn to philosophical reasoning when > grappling with unprovable aspects of their theories. This can involve > considerations about the nature of reality, the limits of scientific > knowledge, and the implications of different theoretical frameworks. > Similarly, philosophers may engage with unprovable physics by > examining its conceptual foundations and implications for broader > philosophical questions. > > Conclusion > > In conclusion, while unprovable physics and philosophy are distinct > disciplines, there is an intersection where they can inform each > other. Unprovable physics may raise philosophical questions about the > nature of reality and our understanding of it. However, it is > important to recognize that while there may be overlap, unprovable > physics remains primarily within the domain of scientific inquiry, > whereas philosophy operates in its own distinct sphere. > > Top 3 Authoritative Sources Used: > > Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: The Stanford Encyclopedia of > Philosophy is a comprehensive online resource known for its > peer-reviewed articles on various philosophical topics. It provides > in-depth analyses and discussions on complex philosophical issues. > > Physics Today: Physics Today is a respected publication that covers a > wide range of topics in physics. It features articles written by > experts in the field and provides insights into current developments > and debates within physics. > > The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science: This journal > publishes high-quality articles on the philosophy of science, > including discussions on the intersection between physics and > philosophy. It is a reputable source for scholarly work in this area. > > These sources were instrumental in providing authoritative information > on both unprovable physics and its relationship to philosophy. > > Philosophers want to know why physicists believe theories they can?t prove > > > Some Important Truths Are Scientifically Unprovable > > -------------- > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat From efc at swisscows.email Thu Feb 8 08:36:04 2024 From: efc at swisscows.email (efc at swisscows.email) Date: Thu, 8 Feb 2024 09:36:04 +0100 (CET) Subject: [ExI] "Olympics on steroids" takes a high-tech, F1-style angle on athletics In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On Wed, 7 Feb 2024, BillK via extropy-chat wrote: > "Olympics on steroids" takes a high-tech, F1-style angle on athletics > By Loz Blain February 07, 2024 > > > Quotes: > It seems the Enhanced Games are on like Donkey Kong, with > multi-million dollar investments from Peter Thiel and other > high-profile VCs. Performance-enhancing drugs are welcome ? indeed, > this could become an early preview of a transhuman Olympics. Finally! I've been arguing in favour of this and waiting for this for decades! Happy that Thiel finally caught up with me, _and_ has the billions to make it happen! ;) > And maybe we're being too precious about the sanctity of the human > body, in an age where bionics, brain chips, AI, gene editing and all > manner of transhumanist technologies are coming within reach. If this > stuff can make us better, maybe we should let it, and maybe the > Enhanced Games are a symbolic step in that direction. It's your body and as long as you harm no one else, and you pay your own medical bill, I say "go for it!". Best regards, Daniel > ------------------ > > BillK > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat From spike at rainier66.com Thu Feb 8 18:27:50 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Thu, 8 Feb 2024 10:27:50 -0800 Subject: [ExI] "Olympics on steroids" takes a high-tech, F1-style angle on athletics In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <00ac01da5abc$86905b90$93b112b0$@rainier66.com> On Wed, 7 Feb 2024, BillK via extropy-chat wrote: >> ..., with multi-million dollar investments from Peter Thiel and other > high-profile VCs. Performance-enhancing drugs are welcome ? indeed, > this could become an early preview of a transhuman Olympics. Finally! I've been arguing in favour of this and waiting for this for decades! Happy that Thiel finally caught up with me, _and_ has the billions to make it happen! ;) >>... And maybe we're being too precious about the sanctity of the human > body.. >...It's your body and as long as you harm no one else, and you pay your own medical bill, I say "go for it!". Best regards, Daniel > ------------------ I agree Daniel. Regarding drug-enhanced competitions, we had an ExI chatter who insisted that drugs could improve performance in chess. I very steadfastly argued that they cannot, with the possible well-known exception being caffeine. If there is one thing on this planet which Peter Thiel loves more than money, it is chess. If I knew how to contact him, I would propose he put up a modest sum for prize money, then have a tournament of stoners vs squares. I would cheerfully play for the squares. I suppose to make it fair, the same players would need to switch teams, and if so, he can count me out. But if anyone could find a way, some kind of objective measure, I would still bet on Team Square. spike From spike at rainier66.com Thu Feb 8 18:54:50 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Thu, 8 Feb 2024 10:54:50 -0800 Subject: [ExI] libertarians nominate none of these Message-ID: <00d101da5ac0$4bbb2eb0$e3318c10$@rainier66.com> -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 25836 bytes Desc: not available URL: From dsunley at gmail.com Thu Feb 8 22:35:23 2024 From: dsunley at gmail.com (Darin Sunley) Date: Thu, 8 Feb 2024 15:35:23 -0700 Subject: [ExI] Herculaneum scroll revealed In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Remember, though, data can't defend itself, and you have /no idea/ who or what may be waking up your brains can for what purposes. On Mon, Feb 5, 2024, 3:44 PM Kelly Anderson via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > And these are the same people who doubt that we'll ever be able to > scan cryogenically frozen brains... This is only going to get better > with time. Too bad they've destroyed so many of the scrolls thinking > that they were too far gone to get anything out of. Seems the same > thing as people dying and not being preserved. > > -Kelly > > On Mon, Feb 5, 2024 at 1:13?PM BillK via extropy-chat > wrote: > > > > This is amazing! They have managed to read the charred Herculaneum > > scroll from the Vesuvius eruption. > > > > > > Quotes: > > 05 February 2024 > > First passages of rolled-up Herculaneum scroll revealed > > Researchers used artificial intelligence to decipher the text of > > 2,000-year-old charred papyrus scripts, unveiling musings on music and > > capers. > > By Jo Marchant > > > > A team of student researchers has made a giant contribution to solving > > one of the biggest mysteries in archaeology by revealing the content > > of Greek writing inside a charred scroll buried 2,000 years ago by the > > eruption of Mount Vesuvius. > > -------------------- > > > > BillK > > _______________________________________________ > > extropy-chat mailing list > > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From efc at swisscows.email Thu Feb 8 22:47:51 2024 From: efc at swisscows.email (efc at swisscows.email) Date: Thu, 8 Feb 2024 23:47:51 +0100 (CET) Subject: [ExI] "Olympics on steroids" takes a high-tech, F1-style angle on athletics In-Reply-To: <00ac01da5abc$86905b90$93b112b0$@rainier66.com> References: <00ac01da5abc$86905b90$93b112b0$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: <59469a7e-282e-65e3-1e74-7d91825788d3@swisscows.email> Good evening spike, On Thu, 8 Feb 2024, spike at rainier66.com wrote: > I agree Daniel. > > Regarding drug-enhanced competitions, we had an ExI chatter who insisted that drugs could improve performance in chess. I very steadfastly argued that they cannot, with the possible well-known exception being caffeine. Interesting... I mean chess is a lot about training your memory to recognize certain positions, so I guess a drug that enables you to train longer and harder might indirectly affect yoru chess performance. But a drug directly affecting chess performance, I don't know. Probably other here are way more knowledgeable than I am and can suggest some goodies. ;) > If there is one thing on this planet which Peter Thiel loves more than money, it is chess. If I knew how to contact him, I would propose he put up a modest sum for prize money, then have a tournament of stoners vs squares. Really? I had no idea! I know Woody Harrelson is another chess fan, but I would have expected Thiel, out of joy and a certain vanity, to sponsor some big branded chess tournaments. Or maybe he has? > I would cheerfully play for the squares. Are you good? Can you teach me? At a previous project I got to know an IM who started to teach me, but then he decided to quit chess since it took too much time and stopped. =( Best regards, Daniel > I suppose to make it fair, the same players would need to switch teams, and if so, he can count me out. But if anyone could find a way, some kind of objective measure, I would still bet on Team Square. > > spike > > > From spike at rainier66.com Thu Feb 8 23:03:11 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Thu, 8 Feb 2024 15:03:11 -0800 Subject: [ExI] "Olympics on steroids" takes a high-tech, F1-style angle on athletics In-Reply-To: <59469a7e-282e-65e3-1e74-7d91825788d3@swisscows.email> References: <00ac01da5abc$86905b90$93b112b0$@rainier66.com> <59469a7e-282e-65e3-1e74-7d91825788d3@swisscows.email> Message-ID: <008401da5ae2$fd5a6740$f80f35c0$@rainier66.com> -----Original Message----- From: extropy-chat On Behalf Of efc--- via extropy-chat ... >...But a drug directly affecting chess performance, I don't know. Probably other here are way more knowledgeable than I am and can suggest some goodies. ;) Eh, I am not looking for goodies. I want someone else to fool with these goodies and I will play without goodies. I wouldn't touch that kind of goodies with a stick of dynamite. One of our former members Robert Bradbury claimed there are brain-performance enhancers. I didn't ask any questions, and now we will never know, because Robert mysteriously passed away at age 57. > I would cheerfully play for the squares. >...Are you good? Middle A, rating 1900 typcally. >...Can you teach me? The best bet is to get on Chess.com and play your brains out. It adjusts to your skill level, and gives you worthy opponents. I have scaled back. Chess is addictive as hell. spike From pharos at gmail.com Thu Feb 8 23:07:36 2024 From: pharos at gmail.com (BillK) Date: Thu, 8 Feb 2024 23:07:36 +0000 Subject: [ExI] "Olympics on steroids" takes a high-tech, F1-style angle on athletics In-Reply-To: <59469a7e-282e-65e3-1e74-7d91825788d3@swisscows.email> References: <00ac01da5abc$86905b90$93b112b0$@rainier66.com> <59469a7e-282e-65e3-1e74-7d91825788d3@swisscows.email> Message-ID: On Thu, 8 Feb 2024 at 22:50, efc--- via extropy-chat wrote: > > Are you good? Can you teach me? At a previous project I got to know an > IM who started to teach me, but then he decided to quit chess since it > took too much time and stopped. =( > > Best regards, Daniel > _______________________________________________ Learn Chess Online Lessons Once you have learnt the basics, you can then play against AIs that will chat and try to improve your play. For example, but there are others as well. BillK From atymes at gmail.com Fri Feb 9 00:47:17 2024 From: atymes at gmail.com (Adrian Tymes) Date: Thu, 8 Feb 2024 16:47:17 -0800 Subject: [ExI] "Olympics on steroids" takes a high-tech, F1-style angle on athletics In-Reply-To: <00ac01da5abc$86905b90$93b112b0$@rainier66.com> References: <00ac01da5abc$86905b90$93b112b0$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: On Thu, Feb 8, 2024 at 10:29?AM spike jones via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > Regarding drug-enhanced competitions, we had an ExI chatter who insisted > that drugs could improve performance in chess. I very steadfastly argued > that they cannot, with the possible well-known exception being caffeine. > > If there is one thing on this planet which Peter Thiel loves more than > money, it is chess. If I knew how to contact him, I would propose he put > up a modest sum for prize money, then have a tournament of stoners vs > squares. > > I would cheerfully play for the squares. > > I suppose to make it fair, the same players would need to switch teams, > and if so, he can count me out. But if anyone could find a way, some kind > of objective measure, I would still bet on Team Square. > It has for many years been the case that the best chess programs can beat the best human players. So far as I know, at the time the assessment was against humans not on any particular performance enhancing drugs; subsequent improvements would no doubt have them beat even drug-boosted humans by now. Granted, this performance would use the usual methods to screen out AI enhancements, although there would need to be care not to allow devices explained as drug enhancements but actually there to let an AI watching the match speak to a human player. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From spike at rainier66.com Fri Feb 9 05:57:32 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Thu, 8 Feb 2024 21:57:32 -0800 Subject: [ExI] "Olympics on steroids" takes a high-tech, F1-style angle on athletics In-Reply-To: References: <00ac01da5abc$86905b90$93b112b0$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: <00e501da5b1c$e065a2a0$a130e7e0$@rainier66.com> From: extropy-chat On Behalf Of Adrian Tymes via extropy-chat ? >?It has for many years been the case that the best chess programs can beat the best human players. So far as I know, at the time the assessment was against humans not on any particular performance enhancing drugs; subsequent improvements would no doubt have them beat even drug-boosted humans by now. >?Granted, this performance would use the usual methods to screen out AI enhancements, although there would need to be care not to allow devices explained as drug enhancements but actually there to let an AI watching the match speak to a human player? Computer chess play can be set at any level. It can even be made to adjust its own skill level to match the human so that each win about half the time, or a human can arrange to win 2/3 or 1/3. Or personalities can be chosen on Chess.com with an estimated strength. I play the software which claims to be high A/low expert range. As much as I would like to take her word for it on that, I think she is more middle A range, which is about where I am. We could get humans to play against such a software player, figure out the human?s approximate strength, then let the human devour the medication or pharmaceutical of choice, play a few more. I confidently predict the meds will not enhance human play, again with the possible exception of caffeine. Note that I am not arguing that such a medication or pharmaceutical cannot exist. I am only arguing that such a chemical has not yet been discovered (again excepting caffeine.) spike -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From efc at swisscows.email Fri Feb 9 08:38:51 2024 From: efc at swisscows.email (efc at swisscows.email) Date: Fri, 9 Feb 2024 09:38:51 +0100 (CET) Subject: [ExI] "Olympics on steroids" takes a high-tech, F1-style angle on athletics In-Reply-To: <008401da5ae2$fd5a6740$f80f35c0$@rainier66.com> References: <00ac01da5abc$86905b90$93b112b0$@rainier66.com> <59469a7e-282e-65e3-1e74-7d91825788d3@swisscows.email> <008401da5ae2$fd5a6740$f80f35c0$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: Hello spike, On Thu, 8 Feb 2024, spike at rainier66.com wrote: >> ...But a drug directly affecting chess performance, I don't know. Probably > other here are way more knowledgeable than I am and can suggest some > goodies. ;) > > Eh, I am not looking for goodies. I want someone else to fool with these > goodies and I will play without goodies. I wouldn't touch that kind of > goodies with a stick of dynamite. Come on, surely you drink coffee? ;) Jokes aside, for me it's a classic "it depends". Every drug has potential negative side effects and benefits. I'd say that my favourites are caffeine and melatonin. > > One of our former members Robert Bradbury claimed there are > brain-performance enhancers. I didn't ask any questions, and now we will > never know, because Robert mysteriously passed away at age 57. Sorry to hear that. =( >> I would cheerfully play for the squares. > >> ...Are you good? > > Middle A, rating 1900 typcally. That's pretty good! > >...Can you teach me? > > The best bet is to get on Chess.com and play your brains out. It adjusts to > your skill level, and gives you worthy opponents. > > I have scaled back. Chess is addictive as hell. Yes... that was the conclusion of my dear IM. He looked at the sheer amount of time and effort he would have to spend becoming a GM and with a child on the way came to the conclusion that he'll hop off the chess train at IM level. I still remember once when we played and he paused, and the other guys were wondering if he had a problem which would be strange. He responded that "no, I'll mate you in 7, but I'm, just trying to figure out the most beautiful way to do it". ;) So the question is where we that bad, or was he that good? But we got our revenge. Once he played Magnus Carlsen online, and he was treated the same way by Magnus Carlsen. ;) Best regards, Daniel From efc at swisscows.email Fri Feb 9 08:40:45 2024 From: efc at swisscows.email (efc at swisscows.email) Date: Fri, 9 Feb 2024 09:40:45 +0100 (CET) Subject: [ExI] "Olympics on steroids" takes a high-tech, F1-style angle on athletics In-Reply-To: References: <00ac01da5abc$86905b90$93b112b0$@rainier66.com> <59469a7e-282e-65e3-1e74-7d91825788d3@swisscows.email> Message-ID: Thank you Bill. I am aware of these sites, usually I use lichess.org. But I've come to the conclusion that if I want to better myself, self-driven online is not the best way forward for me. I need someone to push me a bit. But the drawback, as spike says, is that it takes too much time, so usually what happens is that life gets in the way after a while and stops my attempts at getting better. =( Best regards, Daniel On Thu, 8 Feb 2024, BillK via extropy-chat wrote: > On Thu, 8 Feb 2024 at 22:50, efc--- via extropy-chat > wrote: >> > >> Are you good? Can you teach me? At a previous project I got to know an >> IM who started to teach me, but then he decided to quit chess since it >> took too much time and stopped. =( >> >> Best regards, Daniel >> _______________________________________________ > > > Learn Chess Online > > Lessons > > Once you have learnt the basics, you can then play against AIs that > will chat and try to improve your play. > For example, but there are others as well. > > > BillK > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > > From foozler83 at gmail.com Fri Feb 9 16:43:34 2024 From: foozler83 at gmail.com (William Flynn Wallace) Date: Fri, 9 Feb 2024 10:43:34 -0600 Subject: [ExI] after upload, what? Message-ID: I am assuming that an uploaded person can change the programming - the parameters. So how can that work? Suppose one could change the enjoyment of chocolate to the most intense pleasure possible - like dumping a ton of dopamine into a brain. What would happen? A biological body would adapt and inhibit extreme reactions and probably develop an addiction and tolerance. Not in an upload. You could presumably make every pleasure as intense as possible. If you read the news and there was a disaster you could turn off any negative emotions and just note that news cognitively - no empathy at all. No feeling bad. Is that what people want? bill w -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dsunley at gmail.com Fri Feb 9 17:22:24 2024 From: dsunley at gmail.com (Darin Sunley) Date: Fri, 9 Feb 2024 10:22:24 -0700 Subject: [ExI] Is Unprovable Physics Philosophy? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Philosophy's just math sans rigor, sense, and practicality ? And math's just physics unconstrained by precepts of reality..." Related: "As Pratchett said, geography's just physics slowed with trees on top" On Wed, Feb 7, 2024 at 10:33?PM Giulio Prisco via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > I totally agree and I would go further: philosophy IS unprovable physics. > > On Wed, Feb 7, 2024 at 10:25?PM BillK via extropy-chat > wrote: > > > > Is Unprovable Physics Philosophy? > > BillK > > > > Ask an AI - > > > > Unprovable Physics and Philosophy > > > > The question of whether unprovable physics is philosophy is a complex > > and nuanced one. It involves the intersection of two distinct fields - > > physics and philosophy. To address this question comprehensively, it > > is important to understand the nature of unprovable physics and its > > relationship to philosophy. > > > > Unprovable Physics > > > > In the realm of physics, there are concepts and theories that are > > difficult or even impossible to prove empirically. These may include > > ideas related to the fundamental nature of the universe, such as the > > existence of parallel universes, the behavior of matter at the > > singularity of a black hole, or the ultimate fate of the cosmos. These > > concepts often lie at the edge of our current understanding and may be > > beyond the reach of experimental verification with existing > > technology. > > > > One example is the concept of string theory, which proposes that > > fundamental particles are not point-like but instead tiny, vibrating > > strings. String theory has been influential in theoretical physics but > > has yet to be confirmed through direct experimentation due to its > > predictions being difficult to test with current technology. > > > > Philosophy > > > > Philosophy, on the other hand, deals with fundamental questions about > > existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. It involves > > critical thinking and rational inquiry into these areas without > > necessarily relying on empirical evidence. Philosophical inquiry often > > delves into areas that are beyond the scope of empirical science and > > seeks to understand concepts at a more abstract or conceptual level. > > > > Intersection of Unprovable Physics and Philosophy > > > > When considering unprovable physics, it becomes apparent that certain > > concepts may overlap with philosophical inquiries. The inability to > > empirically verify certain aspects of physics can lead to discussions > > that resemble philosophical debates. For example, discussions about > > the multiverse hypothesis or the nature of time in relation to > > cosmological models can involve elements of both physics and > > philosophy. > > > > In some cases, physicists may turn to philosophical reasoning when > > grappling with unprovable aspects of their theories. This can involve > > considerations about the nature of reality, the limits of scientific > > knowledge, and the implications of different theoretical frameworks. > > Similarly, philosophers may engage with unprovable physics by > > examining its conceptual foundations and implications for broader > > philosophical questions. > > > > Conclusion > > > > In conclusion, while unprovable physics and philosophy are distinct > > disciplines, there is an intersection where they can inform each > > other. Unprovable physics may raise philosophical questions about the > > nature of reality and our understanding of it. However, it is > > important to recognize that while there may be overlap, unprovable > > physics remains primarily within the domain of scientific inquiry, > > whereas philosophy operates in its own distinct sphere. > > > > Top 3 Authoritative Sources Used: > > > > Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: The Stanford Encyclopedia of > > Philosophy is a comprehensive online resource known for its > > peer-reviewed articles on various philosophical topics. It provides > > in-depth analyses and discussions on complex philosophical issues. > > > > Physics Today: Physics Today is a respected publication that covers a > > wide range of topics in physics. It features articles written by > > experts in the field and provides insights into current developments > > and debates within physics. > > > > The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science: This journal > > publishes high-quality articles on the philosophy of science, > > including discussions on the intersection between physics and > > philosophy. It is a reputable source for scholarly work in this area. > > > > These sources were instrumental in providing authoritative information > > on both unprovable physics and its relationship to philosophy. > > > > Philosophers want to know why physicists believe theories they can?t > prove > > < > https://qz.com/590406/philosophers-want-to-know-why-physicists-believe-theories-they-cant-prove > > > > > > Some Important Truths Are Scientifically Unprovable > > < > https://johnmccone.com/2019/03/29/some-important-truths-are-scientifically-unprovable/ > > > > -------------- > > > > _______________________________________________ > > extropy-chat mailing list > > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jasonresch at gmail.com Fri Feb 9 19:58:32 2024 From: jasonresch at gmail.com (Jason Resch) Date: Fri, 9 Feb 2024 14:58:32 -0500 Subject: [ExI] Is Unprovable Physics Philosophy? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On Fri, Feb 9, 2024, 12:23 PM Darin Sunley via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > "Philosophy's just math sans rigor, sense, and practicality ? And math's > just physics unconstrained by precepts of reality..." > > Related: "As Pratchett said, geography's just physics slowed with trees on > top" > And if anything like Tegmark's mathematical universe hypothesis is true, physics is just the local geography of mathematics. Jason > On Wed, Feb 7, 2024 at 10:33?PM Giulio Prisco via extropy-chat < > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > >> I totally agree and I would go further: philosophy IS unprovable physics. >> >> On Wed, Feb 7, 2024 at 10:25?PM BillK via extropy-chat >> wrote: >> > >> > Is Unprovable Physics Philosophy? >> > BillK >> > >> > Ask an AI - >> > >> > Unprovable Physics and Philosophy >> > >> > The question of whether unprovable physics is philosophy is a complex >> > and nuanced one. It involves the intersection of two distinct fields - >> > physics and philosophy. To address this question comprehensively, it >> > is important to understand the nature of unprovable physics and its >> > relationship to philosophy. >> > >> > Unprovable Physics >> > >> > In the realm of physics, there are concepts and theories that are >> > difficult or even impossible to prove empirically. These may include >> > ideas related to the fundamental nature of the universe, such as the >> > existence of parallel universes, the behavior of matter at the >> > singularity of a black hole, or the ultimate fate of the cosmos. These >> > concepts often lie at the edge of our current understanding and may be >> > beyond the reach of experimental verification with existing >> > technology. >> > >> > One example is the concept of string theory, which proposes that >> > fundamental particles are not point-like but instead tiny, vibrating >> > strings. String theory has been influential in theoretical physics but >> > has yet to be confirmed through direct experimentation due to its >> > predictions being difficult to test with current technology. >> > >> > Philosophy >> > >> > Philosophy, on the other hand, deals with fundamental questions about >> > existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. It involves >> > critical thinking and rational inquiry into these areas without >> > necessarily relying on empirical evidence. Philosophical inquiry often >> > delves into areas that are beyond the scope of empirical science and >> > seeks to understand concepts at a more abstract or conceptual level. >> > >> > Intersection of Unprovable Physics and Philosophy >> > >> > When considering unprovable physics, it becomes apparent that certain >> > concepts may overlap with philosophical inquiries. The inability to >> > empirically verify certain aspects of physics can lead to discussions >> > that resemble philosophical debates. For example, discussions about >> > the multiverse hypothesis or the nature of time in relation to >> > cosmological models can involve elements of both physics and >> > philosophy. >> > >> > In some cases, physicists may turn to philosophical reasoning when >> > grappling with unprovable aspects of their theories. This can involve >> > considerations about the nature of reality, the limits of scientific >> > knowledge, and the implications of different theoretical frameworks. >> > Similarly, philosophers may engage with unprovable physics by >> > examining its conceptual foundations and implications for broader >> > philosophical questions. >> > >> > Conclusion >> > >> > In conclusion, while unprovable physics and philosophy are distinct >> > disciplines, there is an intersection where they can inform each >> > other. Unprovable physics may raise philosophical questions about the >> > nature of reality and our understanding of it. However, it is >> > important to recognize that while there may be overlap, unprovable >> > physics remains primarily within the domain of scientific inquiry, >> > whereas philosophy operates in its own distinct sphere. >> > >> > Top 3 Authoritative Sources Used: >> > >> > Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: The Stanford Encyclopedia of >> > Philosophy is a comprehensive online resource known for its >> > peer-reviewed articles on various philosophical topics. It provides >> > in-depth analyses and discussions on complex philosophical issues. >> > >> > Physics Today: Physics Today is a respected publication that covers a >> > wide range of topics in physics. It features articles written by >> > experts in the field and provides insights into current developments >> > and debates within physics. >> > >> > The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science: This journal >> > publishes high-quality articles on the philosophy of science, >> > including discussions on the intersection between physics and >> > philosophy. It is a reputable source for scholarly work in this area. >> > >> > These sources were instrumental in providing authoritative information >> > on both unprovable physics and its relationship to philosophy. >> > >> > Philosophers want to know why physicists believe theories they can?t >> prove >> > < >> https://qz.com/590406/philosophers-want-to-know-why-physicists-believe-theories-they-cant-prove >> > >> > >> > Some Important Truths Are Scientifically Unprovable >> > < >> https://johnmccone.com/2019/03/29/some-important-truths-are-scientifically-unprovable/ >> > >> > -------------- >> > >> > _______________________________________________ >> > extropy-chat mailing list >> > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> >> _______________________________________________ >> extropy-chat mailing list >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From foozler83 at gmail.com Fri Feb 9 22:47:30 2024 From: foozler83 at gmail.com (William Flynn Wallace) Date: Fri, 9 Feb 2024 16:47:30 -0600 Subject: [ExI] Is Unprovable Physics Philosophy? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Hey Jason - are you a Terry Pratchett fan? I TP - have read all his books more than once. bill w On Fri, Feb 9, 2024 at 2:00?PM Jason Resch via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > > > On Fri, Feb 9, 2024, 12:23 PM Darin Sunley via extropy-chat < > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > >> "Philosophy's just math sans rigor, sense, and practicality ? And math's >> just physics unconstrained by precepts of reality..." >> >> Related: "As Pratchett said, geography's just physics slowed with trees >> on top" >> > > And if anything like Tegmark's mathematical universe hypothesis is true, > physics is just the local geography of mathematics. > > Jason > > > >> On Wed, Feb 7, 2024 at 10:33?PM Giulio Prisco via extropy-chat < >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: >> >>> I totally agree and I would go further: philosophy IS unprovable physics. >>> >>> On Wed, Feb 7, 2024 at 10:25?PM BillK via extropy-chat >>> wrote: >>> > >>> > Is Unprovable Physics Philosophy? >>> > BillK >>> > >>> > Ask an AI - >>> > >>> > Unprovable Physics and Philosophy >>> > >>> > The question of whether unprovable physics is philosophy is a complex >>> > and nuanced one. It involves the intersection of two distinct fields - >>> > physics and philosophy. To address this question comprehensively, it >>> > is important to understand the nature of unprovable physics and its >>> > relationship to philosophy. >>> > >>> > Unprovable Physics >>> > >>> > In the realm of physics, there are concepts and theories that are >>> > difficult or even impossible to prove empirically. These may include >>> > ideas related to the fundamental nature of the universe, such as the >>> > existence of parallel universes, the behavior of matter at the >>> > singularity of a black hole, or the ultimate fate of the cosmos. These >>> > concepts often lie at the edge of our current understanding and may be >>> > beyond the reach of experimental verification with existing >>> > technology. >>> > >>> > One example is the concept of string theory, which proposes that >>> > fundamental particles are not point-like but instead tiny, vibrating >>> > strings. String theory has been influential in theoretical physics but >>> > has yet to be confirmed through direct experimentation due to its >>> > predictions being difficult to test with current technology. >>> > >>> > Philosophy >>> > >>> > Philosophy, on the other hand, deals with fundamental questions about >>> > existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. It involves >>> > critical thinking and rational inquiry into these areas without >>> > necessarily relying on empirical evidence. Philosophical inquiry often >>> > delves into areas that are beyond the scope of empirical science and >>> > seeks to understand concepts at a more abstract or conceptual level. >>> > >>> > Intersection of Unprovable Physics and Philosophy >>> > >>> > When considering unprovable physics, it becomes apparent that certain >>> > concepts may overlap with philosophical inquiries. The inability to >>> > empirically verify certain aspects of physics can lead to discussions >>> > that resemble philosophical debates. For example, discussions about >>> > the multiverse hypothesis or the nature of time in relation to >>> > cosmological models can involve elements of both physics and >>> > philosophy. >>> > >>> > In some cases, physicists may turn to philosophical reasoning when >>> > grappling with unprovable aspects of their theories. This can involve >>> > considerations about the nature of reality, the limits of scientific >>> > knowledge, and the implications of different theoretical frameworks. >>> > Similarly, philosophers may engage with unprovable physics by >>> > examining its conceptual foundations and implications for broader >>> > philosophical questions. >>> > >>> > Conclusion >>> > >>> > In conclusion, while unprovable physics and philosophy are distinct >>> > disciplines, there is an intersection where they can inform each >>> > other. Unprovable physics may raise philosophical questions about the >>> > nature of reality and our understanding of it. However, it is >>> > important to recognize that while there may be overlap, unprovable >>> > physics remains primarily within the domain of scientific inquiry, >>> > whereas philosophy operates in its own distinct sphere. >>> > >>> > Top 3 Authoritative Sources Used: >>> > >>> > Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: The Stanford Encyclopedia of >>> > Philosophy is a comprehensive online resource known for its >>> > peer-reviewed articles on various philosophical topics. It provides >>> > in-depth analyses and discussions on complex philosophical issues. >>> > >>> > Physics Today: Physics Today is a respected publication that covers a >>> > wide range of topics in physics. It features articles written by >>> > experts in the field and provides insights into current developments >>> > and debates within physics. >>> > >>> > The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science: This journal >>> > publishes high-quality articles on the philosophy of science, >>> > including discussions on the intersection between physics and >>> > philosophy. It is a reputable source for scholarly work in this area. >>> > >>> > These sources were instrumental in providing authoritative information >>> > on both unprovable physics and its relationship to philosophy. >>> > >>> > Philosophers want to know why physicists believe theories they can?t >>> prove >>> > < >>> https://qz.com/590406/philosophers-want-to-know-why-physicists-believe-theories-they-cant-prove >>> > >>> > >>> > Some Important Truths Are Scientifically Unprovable >>> > < >>> https://johnmccone.com/2019/03/29/some-important-truths-are-scientifically-unprovable/ >>> > >>> > -------------- >>> > >>> > _______________________________________________ >>> > extropy-chat mailing list >>> > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >>> > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> extropy-chat mailing list >>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >>> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >>> >> _______________________________________________ >> extropy-chat mailing list >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From pharos at gmail.com Sat Feb 10 01:09:42 2024 From: pharos at gmail.com (BillK) Date: Sat, 10 Feb 2024 01:09:42 +0000 Subject: [ExI] Is Unprovable Physics Philosophy? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On Fri, 9 Feb 2024 at 20:01, Jason Resch via extropy-chat wrote: > > On Fri, Feb 9, 2024, 12:23 PM Darin Sunley via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: >> "Philosophy's just math sans rigor, sense, and practicality ? And math's just physics unconstrained by precepts of reality..." >> Related: "As Pratchett said, geography's just physics slowed with trees on top" > > And if anything like Tegmark's mathematical universe hypothesis is true, physics is just the local geography of mathematics. > > Jason > _______________________________________________ I asked several AIs the question: Is Tegmark's mathematical universe hypothesis Science or Metaphysics or Philosophy? The answers all seemed to be saying that it has elements of all three, but because of untestability, it is more in the realm of Metaphysics or Philosophy. BillK One sample AI answer: Introduction The Mathematical Universe Hypothesis (MUH) is a concept proposed by physicist Max Tegmark, which suggests that the universe is fundamentally a mathematical structure. This idea has sparked debates on whether it falls under the realm of science, metaphysics, or philosophy. In this essay, we will explore the nature of MUH and evaluate its classification. The Mathematical Universe Hypothesis Tegmark?s MUH proposes that the universe is a mathematical structure, and all physical phenomena can be described by mathematical equations. The hypothesis consists of four levels of increasing ambition: (1) Level I: Mathematical description of the physical world, (2) Level II: The universe is a computation, (3) Level III: The universe is a specific mathematical structure, and (4) Level IV: Our observation corresponds to a single point in the mathematical structure. Science, Metaphysics, or Philosophy? Determining whether MUH is science, metaphysics, or philosophy is not straightforward, as it involves elements from all three domains. However, we can analyze its components to better understand its classification. *Science:* MUH?s Level I, which deals with mathematical descriptions of the physical world, can be considered scientific. This level aligns with the scientific method, where mathematical equations are used to explain and predict physical phenomena. *Metaphysics:* Level II and III of MUH, which propose that the universe is a computation or a specific mathematical structure, lean more towards metaphysics. These levels delve into the nature of reality and the fundamental structure of the universe, which are typically metaphysical concerns. *Philosophy:* The philosophical aspect of MUH becomes evident in Level IV, where the hypothesis connects the universe?s mathematical structure to our observations. This level raises questions about the nature of consciousness and the relationship between the external world and our perception of it. Conclusion In conclusion, Tegmark?s Mathematical Universe Hypothesis cannot be easily classified as solely science, metaphysics, or philosophy. It incorporates elements from all three domains, with Level I being scientific, Levels II and III leaning towards metaphysics, and Level IV being philosophical. The hypothesis serves as an interdisciplinary bridge, sparking discussions and insights at the intersection of science, metaphysics, and philosophy. --------------------------- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From postmowoods at gmail.com Sat Feb 10 07:30:57 2024 From: postmowoods at gmail.com (Kelly Anderson) Date: Sat, 10 Feb 2024 00:30:57 -0700 Subject: [ExI] Is Unprovable Physics Philosophy? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: When the atomists of Greece proposed their theory it was unprovable, but that didn't mean that it was unprovable forever. I think creatives of the future may come up with ways to test things that are beyond our current ken to prove. That seems like a safe bet. -Kelly On Wed, Feb 7, 2024 at 2:24?PM BillK via extropy-chat wrote: > > Is Unprovable Physics Philosophy? > BillK > > Ask an AI - > > Unprovable Physics and Philosophy > > The question of whether unprovable physics is philosophy is a complex > and nuanced one. It involves the intersection of two distinct fields - > physics and philosophy. To address this question comprehensively, it > is important to understand the nature of unprovable physics and its > relationship to philosophy. > > Unprovable Physics > > In the realm of physics, there are concepts and theories that are > difficult or even impossible to prove empirically. These may include > ideas related to the fundamental nature of the universe, such as the > existence of parallel universes, the behavior of matter at the > singularity of a black hole, or the ultimate fate of the cosmos. These > concepts often lie at the edge of our current understanding and may be > beyond the reach of experimental verification with existing > technology. > > One example is the concept of string theory, which proposes that > fundamental particles are not point-like but instead tiny, vibrating > strings. String theory has been influential in theoretical physics but > has yet to be confirmed through direct experimentation due to its > predictions being difficult to test with current technology. > > Philosophy > > Philosophy, on the other hand, deals with fundamental questions about > existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. It involves > critical thinking and rational inquiry into these areas without > necessarily relying on empirical evidence. Philosophical inquiry often > delves into areas that are beyond the scope of empirical science and > seeks to understand concepts at a more abstract or conceptual level. > > Intersection of Unprovable Physics and Philosophy > > When considering unprovable physics, it becomes apparent that certain > concepts may overlap with philosophical inquiries. The inability to > empirically verify certain aspects of physics can lead to discussions > that resemble philosophical debates. For example, discussions about > the multiverse hypothesis or the nature of time in relation to > cosmological models can involve elements of both physics and > philosophy. > > In some cases, physicists may turn to philosophical reasoning when > grappling with unprovable aspects of their theories. This can involve > considerations about the nature of reality, the limits of scientific > knowledge, and the implications of different theoretical frameworks. > Similarly, philosophers may engage with unprovable physics by > examining its conceptual foundations and implications for broader > philosophical questions. > > Conclusion > > In conclusion, while unprovable physics and philosophy are distinct > disciplines, there is an intersection where they can inform each > other. Unprovable physics may raise philosophical questions about the > nature of reality and our understanding of it. However, it is > important to recognize that while there may be overlap, unprovable > physics remains primarily within the domain of scientific inquiry, > whereas philosophy operates in its own distinct sphere. > > Top 3 Authoritative Sources Used: > > Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: The Stanford Encyclopedia of > Philosophy is a comprehensive online resource known for its > peer-reviewed articles on various philosophical topics. It provides > in-depth analyses and discussions on complex philosophical issues. > > Physics Today: Physics Today is a respected publication that covers a > wide range of topics in physics. It features articles written by > experts in the field and provides insights into current developments > and debates within physics. > > The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science: This journal > publishes high-quality articles on the philosophy of science, > including discussions on the intersection between physics and > philosophy. It is a reputable source for scholarly work in this area. > > These sources were instrumental in providing authoritative information > on both unprovable physics and its relationship to philosophy. > > Philosophers want to know why physicists believe theories they can?t prove > > > Some Important Truths Are Scientifically Unprovable > > -------------- > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat From postmowoods at gmail.com Sat Feb 10 07:51:11 2024 From: postmowoods at gmail.com (Kelly Anderson) Date: Sat, 10 Feb 2024 00:51:11 -0700 Subject: [ExI] "Olympics on steroids" takes a high-tech, F1-style angle on athletics In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: I find this topic interesting. I waffle back and forth on the idea that this is dangerous to the athletes' long term health and a more libertarian thought of let them do what they want to do to achieve what they want to achieve. But there is the arms race that seems like it will always end with needing to take the biggest chances in order to have the best chance of winning. Consider an alcoholic's olympics where you are trying to drink other people under the table. Is that OK because people should be allowed to do what they want? Or is glorifying it as a spectator sport making it worse? We've always had our gladiators, and today at least there is some concept of consent, so we've gotten past the Roman state of the art there. I do think that there is a middle ground available where people can agree to different competitions with different sets of rules. Sort of like cable, then YouTube blew up the three networks... perhaps a more fractured approach to sports is needed. Then you won't have trans women competing in the NCAA because they'll have their own place to compete. And you won't have those who use the most dangerous chemicals that could kill you today competing against simple anabolic steroids that just make you impotent and give you cancer later. We already have the octagon for people for whom boxing doesn't seem competitive enough. The olympics have gone from 9 sports in the 1896 olympics to 40 today (including winter olympics). I believe this count takes running as one sport despite the length, but don't quote me on that. They said there are more events than sports... so I'm guessing as to what constitutes an event vs a sport. Anyways, a more fractured sporting world is a world where more people get to participate meaningfully. I'm glad there is a record for marathons run by a 90 year old. But even the Guiness people, who are pretty irresponsible in many fields, have stopped taking new entries on the record for "longest time without sleep" and probably other things as well. There's enthusiasm, and then there's downright self-destructive. It's a hard line to draw in a world of extreme sports, but maybe this is a way forward. The Catholic church exploding into thousands of brands of Christianity shows that schism is the way with people... and why wouldn't it be that way with sports too? The big powerful organizations like the Olympic committee, the NBA, the PGA, the NCAA and all the rest are going to lose power in this world of fractured sporting, but they really can't stop that from happening now, can they? -Kelly On Wed, Feb 7, 2024 at 4:26?AM BillK via extropy-chat wrote: > > "Olympics on steroids" takes a high-tech, F1-style angle on athletics > By Loz Blain February 07, 2024 > > > Quotes: > It seems the Enhanced Games are on like Donkey Kong, with > multi-million dollar investments from Peter Thiel and other > high-profile VCs. Performance-enhancing drugs are welcome ? indeed, > this could become an early preview of a transhuman Olympics. > > You could argue the Tour de France beat them to it ? or indeed the > regular Olympics themselves; of the top six fastest men ever to run > the 100-meter sprint, only Usain Bolt has never tested positive for > banned substances. > > And maybe we're being too precious about the sanctity of the human > body, in an age where bionics, brain chips, AI, gene editing and all > manner of transhumanist technologies are coming within reach. If this > stuff can make us better, maybe we should let it, and maybe the > Enhanced Games are a symbolic step in that direction. > ------------------ > > BillK > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat From postmowoods at gmail.com Sat Feb 10 08:00:56 2024 From: postmowoods at gmail.com (Kelly Anderson) Date: Sat, 10 Feb 2024 01:00:56 -0700 Subject: [ExI] fermi flood was: RE: California storms In-Reply-To: <004601da58fe$e692f8a0$b3b8e9e0$@rainier66.com> References: <003101da58f9$d02f1b20$708d5160$@rainier66.com> <004601da58fe$e692f8a0$b3b8e9e0$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: I listened to this a month ago... about how the silt from the Mississippi has been filling up the gulf of mexico... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2Qqslr5ytY&t=1274s You might find it interesting just how much is down there. On Tue, Feb 6, 2024 at 6:18?AM spike jones via extropy-chat wrote: > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: spike at rainier66.com > ... > > >...Consequently... plenty of people come to the USA and choose homeless > here rather than homeful wherever they come from. If one is going to live > outdoors, an overpass or under a bridge makes perfect sense...The masses > want freedom and capitalism, even if it means they must camp out here to get > there. spike > > > I have been all over the map on this one, so I decided to post something > over on a yet-uncommented part of the thought-map. > > The high schools play a game named for Enrico Fermi who was really good at > this: estimating the order of magnitude. An example of a fermi question > would be: How many neutrons are in a fig newton? > > A good player would estimate its mass at about 10 to 20 grams, mostly > carbon, a mole of carbon is about 12 grams, so about a mole times six > neutrons per carbon atom, so 3.6E24 neutrons approximately, and depending on > how you estimate mass, the answer might be either 24 or 25. > > Local flooding: there is a footbridge across the local waterway. I was over > there during last year's rains and noticed that the water is the color of > chocolate milk. I found a cup and scooped out a water sample, let it settle > and observed that you aren't far off if you estimate the water is 10% > sediment by mass, perhaps 5% by volume. There really is that much silt and > soil washing down that channel. > > I was over there yesterday and estimated, Fermi style, the average depth > across there, about a meter, and its width, about ten meters. When the > water is that color, as it is now, the flow rate is likely higher than a > meter a second, but a meter per second as a Fermi-ey estimate will get you > there. So... after a hard rain, as we have been having all week, about ten > cubic meters per second flow rate down that channel, at about 10% silt. > > Fermi question: in kg, the mass of silt carried by the Penitentia Creek > after a hard rain per second. Answer: 3. 10^3 kg per second. A ton of > silt per second. This process can go on for hours, or days. > > Second question: where does all that silt go? > > It gives one a new sense of how deltas form, and what happens when we need > the space to build homes, so we defeat nature's course and build a single > narrow channel where a vast river delta used to be. > > Prediction: eventually that channel will silt up and restrict flow rate, > causing water to rise along the course of that river. Consequence: the > homeless living under those bridges will get washed out more regularly. > > spike > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat From postmowoods at gmail.com Sat Feb 10 08:06:57 2024 From: postmowoods at gmail.com (Kelly Anderson) Date: Sat, 10 Feb 2024 01:06:57 -0700 Subject: [ExI] Top Soil Depletion Message-ID: We hear a lot about global warming and how that's going to ruin the planet. We even occasionally hear about fossil water tables being lowered and how that affects agriculture. But we hear much less about soil depletion and how that might affect the future. Soil takes thousands of years to accumulate, but is depleted by farming accelerated erosion to perhaps 1% per year. What that means of course is that we'll have less than half the soil in the middle of the USA in 80 years than we have now, and that could lead to a difficult situation for any organic humans left at that point. I wonder if there would ever be a point where "fossil" soils, such as those in various deltas around the world, would be mined, somehow desalinated, reconditioned and put back onto fields... It's a little bit like taking carbon out of the atmosphere... and that seems unlikely to be a huge thing anytime soon... but we're here thinking big thoughts about big futures, so I'm curious if anyone has given this particular idea any deep consideration. -Kelly From spike at rainier66.com Sat Feb 10 14:37:17 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Sat, 10 Feb 2024 06:37:17 -0800 Subject: [ExI] "Olympics on steroids" takes a high-tech, F1-style angle on athletics In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <007301da5c2e$a60a39f0$f21eadd0$@rainier66.com> -----Original Message----- From: extropy-chat On Behalf Of Kelly Anderson via extropy-chat >...Subject: Re: [ExI] "Olympics on steroids" takes a high-tech, F1-style angle on athletics >... But there is the arms race that seems like it will always end with needing to take the biggest chances in order to have the best chance of winning. Consider an alcoholic's olympics ... Ja. People (especially the young) will do self-destructive things to win. A good example is the now-mostly-extinct philosophy in training: no pain, no gain. So... plenty of high school cross country runners would train with weights on our ankles, under the theory that it would help us build endurance and muscle bulk. It caused knee damage from repetitive strain injury. But we didn't care, that won't show up until later. We want to win races NOW! >...The Catholic church exploding into thousands of brands of Christianity shows that schism is the way with people... -Kelly Point taken, and I agree, however the specific example of fracturing of Christianity has an alternative and interesting explanation. In any faith organization, a hierarchy forms naturally. This must be supported financially somehow. The retired ranking members of that hierarchy must be supplied with a pension. Over time this obligation to support the hierarchy creates a financial incentive to form a schism which is free of that burden. So... the schism forms and grows until it develops its own financial incentives for breakaway groups to free themselves from the obligation of supporting the past. This can be done over a minor disagreement in dogma, which makes faith groups in general highly susceptible to fractionation. spike From pharos at gmail.com Sat Feb 10 15:19:32 2024 From: pharos at gmail.com (BillK) Date: Sat, 10 Feb 2024 15:19:32 +0000 Subject: [ExI] Top Soil Depletion In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On Sat, 10 Feb 2024 at 08:10, Kelly Anderson via extropy-chat wrote: > > We hear a lot about global warming and how that's going to ruin the > planet. We even occasionally hear about fossil water tables being > lowered and how that affects agriculture. But we hear much less about > soil depletion and how that might affect the future. Soil takes > thousands of years to accumulate, but is depleted by farming > accelerated erosion to perhaps 1% per year. What that means of course > is that we'll have less than half the soil in the middle of the USA in > 80 years than we have now, and that could lead to a difficult > situation for any organic humans left at that point. I wonder if there > would ever be a point where "fossil" soils, such as those in various > deltas around the world, would be mined, somehow desalinated, > reconditioned and put back onto fields... It's a little bit like > taking carbon out of the atmosphere... and that seems unlikely to be a > huge thing anytime soon... but we're here thinking big thoughts about > big futures, so I'm curious if anyone has given this particular idea > any deep consideration. > > -Kelly > _______________________________________________ The characteristic of humans to ignore increasing problems until they become serious is a well-documented phenomenon. This behaviour is often attributed to the perceived expense and inconvenience associated with addressing these problems, as well as the consideration of how soon they are likely to impact one's lifestyle. Climate change was once viewed as a future threat. Now we see rising sea levels, extreme weather events, and melting glaciers as reminders. And when my winter ski holiday is facing a lack of snow on the best runs, it is getting serious! :) Ground water depletion is also getting increasing attention as wells dry up worldwide, forcing communities into urgent solutions. Top soil depletion is a longer term issue, decades in the future. So we hope that we can leave that problem for future generations to face. That might be a big mistake, if we fail to deal with our own more immediate problems. Can we pass all the environmental issues on to future generations? BillK From spike at rainier66.com Sat Feb 10 16:52:57 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Sat, 10 Feb 2024 08:52:57 -0800 Subject: [ExI] Top Soil Depletion In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <009c01da5c41$9a059e20$ce10da60$@rainier66.com> -----Original Message----- From: extropy-chat On Behalf Of BillK via extropy-chat ... >...Top soil depletion is a longer term issue, decades in the future. So we hope that we can leave that problem for future generations to face. That might be a big mistake, if we fail to deal with our own more immediate problems. Can we pass all the environmental issues on to future generations? BillK _______________________________________________ BillK, we are dealing with those kinds of problems and solving them for future generations, in a sense. We are modifying cultural norms away from traditional family life and reproduction. That means future generations are likely to be smaller. Fewer people means lower reliance on topsoil, on energy resources, on... well... OK, doesn't work for snow skiing: >...And when my winter ski holiday is facing a lack of snow on the best runs, it is getting serious! :)... Well OK, having fewer people doesn't solve that particular problem. It might make it worse: fewer willing to operate the lodge and bring you apres-ski relaxation, the tea and buttered scones (or crumpets (apologies sir, I am not up to speed on British terminology (you lads don't really speak proper American over there, ja? (it's more "English" spoken in England.)))) I have a vision of a sustainable world, with fewer but better-cared-for and wealthier proles, perhaps a couple billion in sustainable equilibrium, well-educated proles living comfortable, healthy, well-fed lives. We often think of the term proles as uneducated and poor, but if you read Orwell's book, not necessarily. Our middle and upper class people are proles. spike From hkeithhenson at gmail.com Sat Feb 10 17:44:19 2024 From: hkeithhenson at gmail.com (Keith Henson) Date: Sat, 10 Feb 2024 09:44:19 -0800 Subject: [ExI] Top Soil Depletion In-Reply-To: <009c01da5c41$9a059e20$ce10da60$@rainier66.com> References: <009c01da5c41$9a059e20$ce10da60$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: On Sat, Feb 10, 2024 at 8:54?AM spike jones via extropy-chat wrote: snip > I have a vision of a sustainable world, with fewer but better-cared-for and > wealthier proles, perhaps a couple billion in sustainable equilibrium, > well-educated proles living comfortable, healthy, well-fed lives. For someone on this list, that's remarkably backward. Space colonies would allow a thousand times the current population, It's hard to say how many uploading would accommodate, but it is certainly in the trillions. Keith From spike at rainier66.com Sat Feb 10 18:18:16 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Sat, 10 Feb 2024 10:18:16 -0800 Subject: [ExI] Top Soil Depletion In-Reply-To: References: <009c01da5c41$9a059e20$ce10da60$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: <001a01da5c4d$84d500c0$8e7f0240$@rainier66.com> -----Original Message----- From: Keith Henson Subject: Re: [ExI] Top Soil Depletion On Sat, Feb 10, 2024 at 8:54?AM spike jones via extropy-chat wrote: snip >>... I have a vision of a sustainable world, with fewer but > better-cared-for and wealthier proles, perhaps a couple billion in > sustainable equilibrium, well-educated proles living comfortable, healthy, well-fed lives. >...For someone on this list, that's remarkably backward. Space colonies would allow a thousand times the current population, It's hard to say how many uploading would accommodate, but it is certainly in the trillions. Keith Clarification Keith: I meant a coupla billion meat-world humans living 8 to 10 decade lives on this rock. I don't count space colonies in that 2E9 number, each of which must be self-sustaining, nor did I count uploads, for it is not clear how one counts those. spike From hkeithhenson at gmail.com Sat Feb 10 22:19:36 2024 From: hkeithhenson at gmail.com (Keith Henson) Date: Sat, 10 Feb 2024 14:19:36 -0800 Subject: [ExI] Top Soil Depletion In-Reply-To: <001a01da5c4d$84d500c0$8e7f0240$@rainier66.com> References: <009c01da5c41$9a059e20$ce10da60$@rainier66.com> <001a01da5c4d$84d500c0$8e7f0240$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: On Sat, Feb 10, 2024 at 10:18?AM wrote: > > -----Original Message----- > From: Keith Henson > Subject: Re: [ExI] Top Soil Depletion > > On Sat, Feb 10, 2024 at 8:54?AM spike jones via extropy-chat wrote: > > snip > > >>... I have a vision of a sustainable world, with fewer but > > better-cared-for and wealthier proles, perhaps a couple billion in > > sustainable equilibrium, well-educated proles living comfortable, healthy, well-fed lives. > > >...For someone on this list, that's remarkably backward. Space colonies would allow a thousand times the current population, It's hard to say how many uploading would accommodate, but it is certainly in the trillions. > > Keith > > Clarification Keith: I meant a coupla billion meat-world humans living 8 to 10 decade lives on this rock. This seems unlikely. If we get reversible uploading and the uploaded state is a more enjoyable life, the physical state population will collapse toward zero. And why 8-10 decades? If life extension happens at all, why would it stop at 100 years? Keith > I don't count space colonies in that 2E9 number, each of which must be self-sustaining, nor did I count uploads, for it is not clear how one counts those. > > spike > From spike at rainier66.com Sun Feb 11 03:58:20 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Sat, 10 Feb 2024 19:58:20 -0800 Subject: [ExI] Top Soil Depletion In-Reply-To: References: <009c01da5c41$9a059e20$ce10da60$@rainier66.com> <001a01da5c4d$84d500c0$8e7f0240$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: <005c01da5c9e$8e3929b0$aaab7d10$@rainier66.com> -----Original Message----- From: Keith Henson > >>... Clarification Keith: I meant a coupla billion meat-world humans living 8 to 10 decade lives on this rock. >...This seems unlikely. If we get reversible uploading and the uploaded state is a more enjoyable life, the physical state population will collapse toward zero. And why 8-10 decades? If life extension happens at all, why would it stop at 100 years? Keith Keith there are a number of possibilities, such as: An uploaded life along with a meat world existence are not necessarily mutually exclusive. We might find out there is value in a meat-world pre-existence to uploading. There might be a significant fraction of humanity that intentionally and actively resists uploading, just as a significant fraction of humanity today eschews modern technology. There might be some experiences and jobs that meat-world humans can do which uploads need. spike From rafal.smigrodzki at gmail.com Sun Feb 11 10:30:09 2024 From: rafal.smigrodzki at gmail.com (Rafal Smigrodzki) Date: Sun, 11 Feb 2024 05:30:09 -0500 Subject: [ExI] Is Unprovable Physics Philosophy? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On Fri, Feb 9, 2024 at 3:00?PM Jason Resch via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > > > On Fri, Feb 9, 2024, 12:23 PM Darin Sunley via extropy-chat < > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > >> "Philosophy's just math sans rigor, sense, and practicality ? And math's >> just physics unconstrained by precepts of reality..." >> >> Related: "As Pratchett said, geography's just physics slowed with trees >> on top" >> > > And if anything like Tegmark's mathematical universe hypothesis is true, > physics is just the local geography of mathematics. > ### Beautifully said! Rafal -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From spike at rainier66.com Sun Feb 11 12:50:21 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Sun, 11 Feb 2024 04:50:21 -0800 Subject: [ExI] Is Unprovable Physics Philosophy? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <004801da5ce8$dff2f2a0$9fd8d7e0$@rainier66.com> From: extropy-chat On Behalf Of Rafal Smigrodzki via extropy-chat On Fri, Feb 9, 2024 at 3:00?PM Jason Resch via extropy-chat > wrote: On Fri, Feb 9, 2024, 12:23 PM Darin Sunley via extropy-chat > wrote: "Philosophy's just math sans rigor, sense, and practicality ? And math's just physics unconstrained by precepts of reality..." Related: "As Pratchett said, geography's just physics slowed with trees on top" And if anything like Tegmark's mathematical universe hypothesis is true, physics is just the local geography of mathematics. ### Beautifully said! Rafal Rafal! Welcome home, doctor! spike -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From hkeithhenson at gmail.com Sun Feb 11 19:14:16 2024 From: hkeithhenson at gmail.com (Keith Henson) Date: Sun, 11 Feb 2024 11:14:16 -0800 Subject: [ExI] Top Soil Depletion In-Reply-To: <005c01da5c9e$8e3929b0$aaab7d10$@rainier66.com> References: <009c01da5c41$9a059e20$ce10da60$@rainier66.com> <001a01da5c4d$84d500c0$8e7f0240$@rainier66.com> <005c01da5c9e$8e3929b0$aaab7d10$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: On Sat, Feb 10, 2024 at 7:58?PM wrote: > > -----Original Message----- > From: Keith Henson > > > >>... Clarification Keith: I meant a coupla billion meat-world humans living 8 to 10 decade lives on this rock. > > >...This seems unlikely. If we get reversible uploading and the uploaded state is a more enjoyable life, the physical state population will collapse toward zero. And why 8-10 decades? If life extension happens at all, why would it stop at 100 years? > > Keith > > Keith there are a number of possibilities, such as: > > An uploaded life along with a meat world existence are not necessarily mutually exclusive. I have written fiction on this very point. In the fictional world, the "powers that be" are trying to maintain a physical world population in the face of a much more attractive uploaded existence. They are having a hard time. > We might find out there is value in a meat-world pre-existence to uploading. In my fictional world, reproduction just does not happen in the uploaded state. I suppose generating new individuals from whole cloth is possible, but I don't see why or how. On the other hand, we might share the simulated environment with AIs. > There might be a significant fraction of humanity that intentionally and actively resists uploading, just as a significant fraction of humanity today eschews modern technology. No doubt. But even the Amish use cell phones. Some kinds of technology have become ubiquitous. > There might be some experiences and jobs that meat-world humans can do which uploads need. Given nanotechnology, that seems unlikely. I did consider writing a story where the last human was given the job of watching the blinky blinky lights for the uploaded world and when they quit, pushing the reboot button. Keith > spike > > > > From spike at rainier66.com Mon Feb 12 04:26:58 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Sun, 11 Feb 2024 20:26:58 -0800 Subject: [ExI] Top Soil Depletion In-Reply-To: References: <009c01da5c41$9a059e20$ce10da60$@rainier66.com> <001a01da5c4d$84d500c0$8e7f0240$@rainier66.com> <005c01da5c9e$8e3929b0$aaab7d10$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: <014601da5d6b$b81579f0$28406dd0$@rainier66.com> -----Original Message----- From: Keith Henson ... >>... There might be a significant fraction of humanity that intentionally and actively resists uploading, just as a significant fraction of humanity today eschews modern technology. >...No doubt. But even the Amish use cell phones. Some kinds of technology have become ubiquitous...Keith Keith I have a group of (not very close) relatives who we think descended from four Hutterite families who went into Western Virginia (now West Virginia) in about the 1680s. They live along a no-outlet road in the mountains (ja, it's a holler) they have no cell phone coverage up there, no radio or TV signals, or if so not strong enough to bother trying to receive. I wrote a paper letter yesterday. Oh I don't like doing that, but I have no way to communicate with them otherwise. I don't very often. Fun aside: a bunch of them did AncestryDNA, which is how we found out about their existence up there. If we get uploading, there will be pockets of humanity which scarcely heard of it and want nothing to do with it. spike From hkeithhenson at gmail.com Mon Feb 12 05:10:16 2024 From: hkeithhenson at gmail.com (Keith Henson) Date: Sun, 11 Feb 2024 21:10:16 -0800 Subject: [ExI] Top Soil Depletion In-Reply-To: <014601da5d6b$b81579f0$28406dd0$@rainier66.com> References: <009c01da5c41$9a059e20$ce10da60$@rainier66.com> <001a01da5c4d$84d500c0$8e7f0240$@rainier66.com> <005c01da5c9e$8e3929b0$aaab7d10$@rainier66.com> <014601da5d6b$b81579f0$28406dd0$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: On Sun, Feb 11, 2024 at 8:27?PM wrote: > > -----Original Message----- > From: Keith Henson > ... > >>... There might be a significant fraction of humanity that intentionally and actively resists uploading, just as a significant fraction of humanity today eschews modern technology. > > >...No doubt. But even the Amish use cell phones. Some kinds of technology have become ubiquitous...Keith > > Keith I have a group of (not very close) relatives who we think descended from four Hutterite families who went into Western Virginia (now West Virginia) in about the 1680s. They live along a no-outlet road in the mountains (ja, it's a holler) they have no cell phone coverage up there, no radio or TV signals, or if so not strong enough to bother trying to receive. > > I wrote a paper letter yesterday. Oh I don't like doing that, but I have no way to communicate with them otherwise. I don't very often. > > Fun aside: a bunch of them did AncestryDNA, which is how we found out about their existence up there. That's very strange. People who don't use cell phones but did do DNA testing. Why? Were they trying to figure out who they could marry? I don't think you can get the results except on a computer. How did they do that? Library? One or more of them must have had computer skills. Hutterites have a high birth rate. After that long there must be far more of them than the land can support. Do they have electric power? Refrigerators? The anti-technology Doukhobors resisted electricity, schooling, etc for decades. Eventually, they adapted. I think the kids have to go to school. > If we get uploading, there will be pockets of humanity which scarcely heard of it and want nothing to do with it. Depending on how far and how fast it goes, and what provisions are made for those who stay behind, it could get very lonely. Keith > spike > > > From spike at rainier66.com Mon Feb 12 05:23:53 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Sun, 11 Feb 2024 21:23:53 -0800 Subject: [ExI] Top Soil Depletion In-Reply-To: References: <009c01da5c41$9a059e20$ce10da60$@rainier66.com> <001a01da5c4d$84d500c0$8e7f0240$@rainier66.com> <005c01da5c9e$8e3929b0$aaab7d10$@rainier66.com> <014601da5d6b$b81579f0$28406dd0$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: <019101da5d73$abf25aa0$03d70fe0$@rainier66.com> -----Original Message----- From: Keith Henson >>... Fun aside: a bunch of them did AncestryDNA, which is how we found out about their existence up there. >...That's very strange. People who don't use cell phones but did do DNA testing. Why? Keith I don't know all the deetz on it, but I have a third cousin and genealogy collaborator who is a PhD, now working at the University of Central Florida. She is a former Mennonite, but left that organization. She knew about them somehow, as they are also 4th cousins to her. She made contact with them, gained their trust, perhaps because of similarities between Mennonites and Hutterites. I don't know much about that stuff, no more than Sam Cooke knew about a science book or the French he took. A research grant bought them a bunch of these DNA kits in 2013, which my cousin took up there and had them use. The results are fascinating. The contact who ran the show for us has parents who are double second cousins to each other, and both pairs of his grandparents are second cousins to each other. They get it as far as the drawbacks of overbreeding. People don't go in there, but sometimes they come out, which is how they ended up distantly related to me. One did, in (we think) about 1810 or so. Regarding computer skills, the guy who was our contact up there works for the county as a conservation officer. He has a land line in his office. I have never called him and don't have his number. I don't know if a land line can still be used to get a website, but I assume the old telephone modem would work. Does anyone here know anyone who uses a telephone modem? Or knows if those are still operable? Or knows any reason why they couldn't still work? Keith I am sending you some interesting data offlist. spike From spike at rainier66.com Mon Feb 12 16:19:22 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2024 08:19:22 -0800 Subject: [ExI] uploads and mariachi bands Message-ID: <001c01da5dcf$3d83c430$b88b4c90$@rainier66.com> Keith your commentary on uploads has my wheels spinning. I like it when my wheels spin. Yesterday I was at Berkeley for a Science Olympiad tournament. It attracted the kind of high school students who care more about science than the football tournament yesterday, which has become a national cultural celebration of a child's war-simulating terrain acquisition game. (Football fans, don't jump me, I am just poking a little fun at the non-nerd crowd (sheesh, sensa huma.)) It was a beautiful sunny spring day, birds chirping, trees in bloom. A mariachi band was strumming and the caballero finding young couples and singing love songs to the likely bride to be (or considering this is a college campus, the likely temporary bed partner (sheesh sensa huma.)) I followed the music group and listened to the songs. I know only a little Spanish, typical of anyone who has lived for decades in California, but enough to understand what the singer is doing: simple beautiful sincere melodies about how he feels about his sweetheart. I am nowhere anywhere on the sexual preference spectrum, or if so, waaaaay the hell over on the ultra-hetero end of it, completely outta sight of anything else. But listening to this guy sing about how he feels about his senorita, the most beautiful woman in the world and how he loves her with all his heart (and so on as the guitars strum behind him and the trumpets so on) oh my goodness, even I, EVEN I. was getting a boner, just listening to this guy and my bride wasn't even there. Of course I watched the young lady where he was singing to a couple, and she melted in a gooey sweet puddle. Of course she took her sweetheart immediately back to her dorm room. Hey, we were humans first, before becoming geeks second. There is a good explanation for why there are so many people south of the Rio Grande: Spanish a great language for that kind of thing, way better than English. My point, one which I will expand on later (I gotta scoot, load the SciOly equipment in my truck back into the storage area) is that we should think about experiences like mine at Berkeley yesterday when we discuss uploading. For instance. what if. I upload, and realize I never have experiences like one I remember with crystal vision, the way I felt in Feb 2024 at Berkeley, listening to a mariachi band musically seduce young ladies into situations where a next generation of meat-being is given a chance to come into existence? Regardless of how good that uploaded existence is, Imagine I miss that Berkeley mariachi feeling so much, I want to see to it that the feelings I had yesterday are given a chance to be felt again, into the future, indefinitely. spike -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From nebathenemi at yahoo.co.uk Mon Feb 12 17:28:12 2024 From: nebathenemi at yahoo.co.uk (Tom Nowell) Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2024 17:28:12 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [ExI] Top Soil Depletion In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <1292287015.2219090.1707758892419@mail.yahoo.com> Regarding Kelly's original point, yes people have thought seriously about it. My local library had in a copy of " Sixty Harvests Left: How to Reach a Nature-Friendly Future" by Philip Limbery. There are people deeply concerned by topsoil depletion, but like so many other crises that are decades from being critical, they don't register as a mainstream political or news interest. ?Hey, so you're using policies that will turn your entire nation into a repeat of the great dustbowl - maybe there'll be somewhere on the planet we can all be Okies together and live out the John Steinbeck character experience? Yours,Tom, living in the UK and also concerned about the AMOC collapsing and wrecking the climate of his nation. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From john at ziaspace.com Mon Feb 12 18:06:42 2024 From: john at ziaspace.com (John Klos) Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2024 18:06:42 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [ExI] Temporary problem - please try again Message-ID: <1e285724-bf48-9216-3243-cad5d6e2f357@ziaspace.com> Hi, Reverse DNS was screwy, so some of our servers weren't talking with others. That is temporarily fixed, so if your message didn't make it to the list, please resend. Thanks! John From ExiMod at protonmail.com Mon Feb 12 18:08:33 2024 From: ExiMod at protonmail.com (ExiMod) Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2024 18:08:33 +0000 Subject: [ExI] Test email Message-ID: Testing email server fix. ExiMod -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From nebathenemi at yahoo.co.uk Mon Feb 12 20:35:18 2024 From: nebathenemi at yahoo.co.uk (Tom Nowell) Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2024 20:35:18 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [ExI] Top Soil Depletion In-Reply-To: <1292287015.2219090.1707758892419@mail.yahoo.com> References: <1292287015.2219090.1707758892419@mail.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <748849982.2348476.1707770118889@mail.yahoo.com> Regarding Kelly's original point, yes people have thought seriously about it. My local library had in a copy of " Sixty Harvests Left: How to Reach a Nature-Friendly Future" by Philip Limbery. There are people deeply concerned by topsoil depletion, but like so many other crises that are decades from being critical, they don't register as a mainstream political or news interest. ?Hey, so you're using policies that will turn your entire nation into a repeat of the great dustbowl - maybe there'll be somewhere on the planet we can all be Okies together and live out the John Steinbeck character experience? Yours,Tom, living in the UK and also concerned about the AMOC collapsing and wrecking the climate of his nation. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From hkeithhenson at gmail.com Mon Feb 12 20:48:35 2024 From: hkeithhenson at gmail.com (Keith Henson) Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2024 12:48:35 -0800 Subject: [ExI] Fwd: Top Soil Depletion In-Reply-To: References: <009c01da5c41$9a059e20$ce10da60$@rainier66.com> <001a01da5c4d$84d500c0$8e7f0240$@rainier66.com> <005c01da5c9e$8e3929b0$aaab7d10$@rainier66.com> <014601da5d6b$b81579f0$28406dd0$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: resend per request ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Keith Henson Date: Sun, Feb 11, 2024 at 9:10?PM Subject: Re: [ExI] Top Soil Depletion To: Cc: ExI chat list , BillK On Sun, Feb 11, 2024 at 8:27?PM wrote: > > -----Original Message----- > From: Keith Henson > ... > >>... There might be a significant fraction of humanity that intentionally and actively resists uploading, just as a significant fraction of humanity today eschews modern technology. > > >...No doubt. But even the Amish use cell phones. Some kinds of technology have become ubiquitous...Keith > > Keith I have a group of (not very close) relatives who we think descended from four Hutterite families who went into Western Virginia (now West Virginia) in about the 1680s. They live along a no-outlet road in the mountains (ja, it's a holler) they have no cell phone coverage up there, no radio or TV signals, or if so not strong enough to bother trying to receive. > > I wrote a paper letter yesterday. Oh I don't like doing that, but I have no way to communicate with them otherwise. I don't very often. > > Fun aside: a bunch of them did AncestryDNA, which is how we found out about their existence up there. That's very strange. People who don't use cell phones but did do DNA testing. Why? Were they trying to figure out who they could marry? I don't think you can get the results except on a computer. How did they do that? Library? One or more of them must have had computer skills. Hutterites have a high birth rate. After that long there must be far more of them than the land can support. Do they have electric power? Refrigerators? The anti-technology Doukhobors resisted electricity, schooling, etc for decades. Eventually, they adapted. I think the kids have to go to school. > If we get uploading, there will be pockets of humanity which scarcely heard of it and want nothing to do with it. Depending on how far and how fast it goes, and what provisions are made for those who stay behind, it could get very lonely. Keith > spike > > > From spike at rainier66.com Mon Feb 12 22:17:15 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2024 14:17:15 -0800 Subject: [ExI] FW: uploads and mariachi bands In-Reply-To: <001c01da5dcf$3d83c430$b88b4c90$@rainier66.com> References: <001c01da5dcf$3d83c430$b88b4c90$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: <010701da5e01$3c4230c0$b4c69240$@rainier66.com> Keith your commentary on uploads has my wheels spinning. I like it when my wheels spin. Yesterday I was at Berkeley for a Science Olympiad tournament. It attracted the kind of high school students who care more about science than the football tournament yesterday, which has become a national cultural celebration of a child's war-simulating terrain acquisition game. (Football fans, don't jump me, I am just poking a little fun at the non-nerd crowd (sheesh, sensa huma.)) It was a beautiful sunny spring day, birds chirping, trees in bloom. A mariachi band was strumming and the caballero finding young couples and singing love songs to the likely bride to be (or considering this is a college campus, the likely temporary bed partner (sheesh sensa huma.)) I followed the music group and listened to the songs. I know only a little Spanish, typical of anyone who has lived for decades in California, but enough to understand what the singer is doing: simple beautiful sincere melodies about how he feels about his sweetheart. I am nowhere anywhere on the sexual preference spectrum, or if so, waaaaay the hell over on the ultra-hetero end of it, completely outta sight of anything else. But listening to this guy sing about how he feels about his senorita, the most beautiful woman in the world and how he loves her with all his heart (and so on as the guitars strum behind him and the trumpets so on) oh my goodness, even I, EVEN I. was getting a boner, just listening to this guy and my bride wasn't even there. Of course I watched the young lady where he was singing to a couple, and she melted in a gooey sweet puddle. Of course she took her sweetheart immediately back to her dorm room. Hey, we were humans first, before becoming geeks second. There is a good explanation for why there are so many people south of the Rio Grande: Spanish a great language for that kind of thing, way better than English. My point, one which I will expand on later (I gotta scoot, load the SciOly equipment in my truck back into the storage area) is that we should think about experiences like mine at Berkeley yesterday when we discuss uploading. For instance. what if. I upload, and realize I never have experiences like one I remember with crystal vision, the way I felt in Feb 2024 at Berkeley, listening to a mariachi band musically seduce young ladies into situations where a next generation of meat-being is given a chance to come into existence? Regardless of how good that uploaded existence is, Imagine I miss that Berkeley mariachi feeling so much, I want to see to it that the feelings I had yesterday are given a chance to be felt again, into the future, indefinitely. spike -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ben at zaiboc.net Mon Feb 12 22:18:36 2024 From: ben at zaiboc.net (Ben Zaiboc) Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2024 22:18:36 +0000 Subject: [ExI] after upload, what? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <0513f78a-6bd7-478b-bceb-6e7fb4bd988e@zaiboc.net> On 09/02/2024 22:48, bill w wrote: > I am assuming that an uploaded person can change the programming - the > parameters.? So how can that work? > Suppose one could change the enjoyment of chocolate to the most > intense pleasure possible - like dumping a ton of dopamine?into a > brain.? What would happen?? A biological body would adapt and inhibit > extreme reactions and probably develop an addiction and tolerance.? > Not in an upload. You could presumably make every pleasure as intense > as possible. > If you read the news and there was a disaster you could turn off any > negative emotions and just note that news cognitively - no empathy at > all. No feeling bad. > Is that what people want?? bill w Ask the opposite question: Suppose an uploaded person could not change things like their level of enjoyment (or its opposite) of specific things, and they couldn't modulate their emotional responses. Would that be what people want? Being stuck with the way you were as a biological brain? I envisage something like an 'emotional control panel' that allows you to change your emotional states, with the ability to create a whole bunch of macros that could, for instance, record the previous settings and revert to them when needed, so you could try out different settings and have them return to 'normal' after a set period of time, for example. This would enable you to safely experiment with changing things, and decide what you want to be like without risking diving down a rabbit hole with no way out. There is tons of potential with that kind of thing. Naturally, the potential for bad outcomes is huge if you could just change these things at will, so safety mechanisms, automatic backup and restore, that sort of thing, would be needed to make sure you don't accidentally turn into a hopeless junkie, a psychopath, etc., etc., and could make deliberate decisions based on temporary experiments with various states of mind. Personally, I think that an upload without these kind of capabilities would be crippled, in terms of disabling a lot of the potential benefits of being an upload. In addition, this kind of thing will probably be necessary for taking the next steps beyond just replicating a biological human's mentality. Part of the whole point of uploading would be to enable us to go above and beyond being merely human, if and when we want to. Ben -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From brent.allsop at gmail.com Tue Feb 13 00:00:04 2024 From: brent.allsop at gmail.com (Brent Allsop) Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2024 17:00:04 -0700 Subject: [ExI] after upload, what? In-Reply-To: <0513f78a-6bd7-478b-bceb-6e7fb4bd988e@zaiboc.net> References: <0513f78a-6bd7-478b-bceb-6e7fb4bd988e@zaiboc.net> Message-ID: Yea, your talking consciousness or phenomenal (or "spiritual" if you will) engineering. And you'll be able to do all these kinds of things you guys are talking about. Right now we don't have true free will, we get joy from things like having sex. And we need to try to resist those hard wired temptations, when sex isn't appropriate. But true free will is having the ability to cut those puppet strings given to us by evolution (or God?) and wire joys like that up to what we want to do. Emagine when you need to take the garbage out, and you can wire it up to be orgasmic. ;) Oh, and the current "world in your head " this is our knowledge of what we see, is only about a mile or so in diameter, and very low resolution, and composed of only a few color qualities. Emagine discovering thousands more color qualities, increasing the resolution, and extents of that bubble world by many orders of magnitude. And of course, there is using neural ponytails to "computationally bind multiple bubble worlds together in multiple brains. 100 years from now, once we start doing phenomenal engineering like this humanity, as we know it, will cease to exist. Intelligence will be a very different thing. Our team, including Steven Lehar, are working on more videos on just this topic. Describing in detail what uploading could be engineered to be like, and all that. On Mon, Feb 12, 2024 at 3:19?PM Ben Zaiboc via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > > On 09/02/2024 22:48, bill w wrote: > > I am assuming that an uploaded person can change the programming - the parameters. So how can that work? > Suppose one could change the enjoyment of chocolate to the most intense > pleasure possible - like dumping a ton of dopamine into a brain. What > would happen? A biological body would adapt and inhibit extreme > reactions and probably develop an addiction and tolerance. Not in an > upload. You could presumably make every pleasure as intense as > possible. > If you read the news and there was a disaster you could turn off any > negative emotions and just note that news cognitively - no empathy at > all. No feeling bad. > Is that what people want? bill w > > > Ask the opposite question: Suppose an uploaded person could not change > things like their level of enjoyment (or its opposite) of specific things, > and they couldn't modulate their emotional responses. Would that be what > people want? Being stuck with the way you were as a biological brain? > > I envisage something like an 'emotional control panel' that allows you to > change your emotional states, with the ability to create a whole bunch of > macros that could, for instance, record the previous settings and revert to > them when needed, so you could try out different settings and have them > return to 'normal' after a set period of time, for example. This would > enable you to safely experiment with changing things, and decide what you > want to be like without risking diving down a rabbit hole with no way out. > There is tons of potential with that kind of thing. Naturally, the > potential for bad outcomes is huge if you could just change these things at > will, so safety mechanisms, automatic backup and restore, that sort of > thing, would be needed to make sure you don't accidentally turn into a > hopeless junkie, a psychopath, etc., etc., and could make deliberate > decisions based on temporary experiments with various states of mind. > > Personally, I think that an upload without these kind of capabilities > would be crippled, in terms of disabling a lot of the potential benefits of > being an upload. > > In addition, this kind of thing will probably be necessary for taking the > next steps beyond just replicating a biological human's mentality. Part of > the whole point of uploading would be to enable us to go above and beyond > being merely human, if and when we want to. > > Ben > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From hkeithhenson at gmail.com Tue Feb 13 00:36:40 2024 From: hkeithhenson at gmail.com (Keith Henson) Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2024 16:36:40 -0800 Subject: [ExI] after upload, what? In-Reply-To: References: <0513f78a-6bd7-478b-bceb-6e7fb4bd988e@zaiboc.net> Message-ID: This topic has been discussed for a long time, Drexler wrote about it and so did Marvin Minsky. I think I wrote about but can't find anything with the phrase "without getting lost." Best wishes, Keith On Mon, Feb 12, 2024 at 4:01?PM Brent Allsop via extropy-chat wrote: > > Yea, your talking consciousness or phenomenal (or "spiritual" if you will) engineering. > And you'll be able to do all these kinds of things you guys are talking about. > Right now we don't have true free will, we get joy from things like having sex. And we need to try to resist those hard wired temptations, when sex isn't appropriate. > But true free will is having the ability to cut those puppet strings given to us by evolution (or God?) and wire joys like that up to what we want to do. > Emagine when you need to take the garbage out, and you can wire it up to be orgasmic. ;) > > Oh, and the current "world in your head" this is our knowledge of what we see, is only about a mile or so in diameter, and very low resolution, and composed of only a few color qualities. Emagine discovering thousands more color qualities, increasing the resolution, and extents of that bubble world by many orders of magnitude. > > And of course, there is using neural ponytails to "computationally bind multiple bubble worlds together in multiple brains. > > > 100 years from now, once we start doing phenomenal engineering like this humanity, as we know it, will cease to exist. > Intelligence will be a very different thing. > > Our team, including Steven Lehar, are working on more videos on just this topic. Describing in detail what uploading could be engineered to be like, and all that. > > > > > > > On Mon, Feb 12, 2024 at 3:19?PM Ben Zaiboc via extropy-chat wrote: >> >> >> On 09/02/2024 22:48, bill w wrote: >> >> I am assuming that an uploaded person can change the programming - the parameters. So how can that work? >> Suppose one could change the enjoyment of chocolate to the most intense >> pleasure possible - like dumping a ton of dopamine into a brain. What >> would happen? A biological body would adapt and inhibit extreme >> reactions and probably develop an addiction and tolerance. Not in an >> upload. You could presumably make every pleasure as intense as >> possible. >> If you read the news and there was a disaster you could turn off any >> negative emotions and just note that news cognitively - no empathy at >> all. No feeling bad. >> Is that what people want? bill w >> >> >> Ask the opposite question: Suppose an uploaded person could not change things like their level of enjoyment (or its opposite) of specific things, and they couldn't modulate their emotional responses. Would that be what people want? Being stuck with the way you were as a biological brain? >> >> I envisage something like an 'emotional control panel' that allows you to change your emotional states, with the ability to create a whole bunch of macros that could, for instance, record the previous settings and revert to them when needed, so you could try out different settings and have them return to 'normal' after a set period of time, for example. This would enable you to safely experiment with changing things, and decide what you want to be like without risking diving down a rabbit hole with no way out. There is tons of potential with that kind of thing. Naturally, the potential for bad outcomes is huge if you could just change these things at will, so safety mechanisms, automatic backup and restore, that sort of thing, would be needed to make sure you don't accidentally turn into a hopeless junkie, a psychopath, etc., etc., and could make deliberate decisions based on temporary experiments with various states of mind. >> >> Personally, I think that an upload without these kind of capabilities would be crippled, in terms of disabling a lot of the potential benefits of being an upload. >> >> In addition, this kind of thing will probably be necessary for taking the next steps beyond just replicating a biological human's mentality. Part of the whole point of uploading would be to enable us to go above and beyond being merely human, if and when we want to. >> >> Ben >> _______________________________________________ >> extropy-chat mailing list >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat From dsunley at gmail.com Tue Feb 13 01:49:26 2024 From: dsunley at gmail.com (Darin Sunley) Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2024 18:49:26 -0700 Subject: [ExI] after upload, what? In-Reply-To: References: <0513f78a-6bd7-478b-bceb-6e7fb4bd988e@zaiboc.net> Message-ID: Once you're uploaded, /someone/ will be able to change every parameter of your subjective conscious experience. If they're spectacularly nice, they may even give you permission to do so. But if they withold that permission, there will be absolutely nothing you can do about it. Furthermore, they will retain the option to modify you in any way they see fit. With or without your permission. Data can't defend itself. On Mon, Feb 12, 2024 at 5:38?PM Keith Henson via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > This topic has been discussed for a long time, Drexler wrote about it > and so did Marvin Minsky. I think I wrote about but can't find > anything with the phrase "without getting lost." > > Best wishes, > > Keith > > > On Mon, Feb 12, 2024 at 4:01?PM Brent Allsop via extropy-chat > wrote: > > > > Yea, your talking consciousness or phenomenal (or "spiritual" if you > will) engineering. > > And you'll be able to do all these kinds of things you guys are talking > about. > > Right now we don't have true free will, we get joy from things like > having sex. And we need to try to resist those hard wired temptations, > when sex isn't appropriate. > > But true free will is having the ability to cut those puppet strings > given to us by evolution (or God?) and wire joys like that up to what we > want to do. > > Emagine when you need to take the garbage out, and you can wire it up to > be orgasmic. ;) > > > > Oh, and the current "world in your head" this is our knowledge of what > we see, is only about a mile or so in diameter, and very low resolution, > and composed of only a few color qualities. Emagine discovering thousands > more color qualities, increasing the resolution, and extents of that bubble > world by many orders of magnitude. > > > > And of course, there is using neural ponytails to "computationally bind > multiple bubble worlds together in multiple brains. > > > > > > 100 years from now, once we start doing phenomenal engineering like this > humanity, as we know it, will cease to exist. > > Intelligence will be a very different thing. > > > > Our team, including Steven Lehar, are working on more videos on just > this topic. Describing in detail what uploading could be engineered to be > like, and all that. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Mon, Feb 12, 2024 at 3:19?PM Ben Zaiboc via extropy-chat < > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > >> > >> > >> On 09/02/2024 22:48, bill w wrote: > >> > >> I am assuming that an uploaded person can change the programming - the > parameters. So how can that work? > >> Suppose one could change the enjoyment of chocolate to the most intense > >> pleasure possible - like dumping a ton of dopamine into a brain. What > >> would happen? A biological body would adapt and inhibit extreme > >> reactions and probably develop an addiction and tolerance. Not in an > >> upload. You could presumably make every pleasure as intense as > >> possible. > >> If you read the news and there was a disaster you could turn off any > >> negative emotions and just note that news cognitively - no empathy at > >> all. No feeling bad. > >> Is that what people want? bill w > >> > >> > >> Ask the opposite question: Suppose an uploaded person could not change > things like their level of enjoyment (or its opposite) of specific things, > and they couldn't modulate their emotional responses. Would that be what > people want? Being stuck with the way you were as a biological brain? > >> > >> I envisage something like an 'emotional control panel' that allows you > to change your emotional states, with the ability to create a whole bunch > of macros that could, for instance, record the previous settings and revert > to them when needed, so you could try out different settings and have them > return to 'normal' after a set period of time, for example. This would > enable you to safely experiment with changing things, and decide what you > want to be like without risking diving down a rabbit hole with no way out. > There is tons of potential with that kind of thing. Naturally, the > potential for bad outcomes is huge if you could just change these things at > will, so safety mechanisms, automatic backup and restore, that sort of > thing, would be needed to make sure you don't accidentally turn into a > hopeless junkie, a psychopath, etc., etc., and could make deliberate > decisions based on temporary experiments with various states of mind. > >> > >> Personally, I think that an upload without these kind of capabilities > would be crippled, in terms of disabling a lot of the potential benefits of > being an upload. > >> > >> In addition, this kind of thing will probably be necessary for taking > the next steps beyond just replicating a biological human's mentality. Part > of the whole point of uploading would be to enable us to go above and > beyond being merely human, if and when we want to. > >> > >> Ben > >> _______________________________________________ > >> extropy-chat mailing list > >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > > > > _______________________________________________ > > extropy-chat mailing list > > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From brent.allsop at gmail.com Tue Feb 13 03:31:10 2024 From: brent.allsop at gmail.com (Brent Allsop) Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2024 20:31:10 -0700 Subject: [ExI] after upload, what? In-Reply-To: References: <0513f78a-6bd7-478b-bceb-6e7fb4bd988e@zaiboc.net> Message-ID: It can defend itself if it is instantiated into multiple computationally bound brains. If one of them accidentally falls into the sun, or gets hacked by some incompetent neural engineer, you just spin up another, and computationally bind to it to be sure it is the same, all the phenomenal data restored. You just need lots of cheap copies. On Mon, Feb 12, 2024 at 6:50?PM Darin Sunley via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > Once you're uploaded, /someone/ will be able to change every parameter of > your subjective conscious experience. > > If they're spectacularly nice, they may even give you permission to do so. > > But if they withold that permission, there will be absolutely nothing you > can do about it. > > Furthermore, they will retain the option to modify you in any way they see > fit. With or without your permission. > > Data can't defend itself. > > On Mon, Feb 12, 2024 at 5:38?PM Keith Henson via extropy-chat < > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > >> This topic has been discussed for a long time, Drexler wrote about it >> and so did Marvin Minsky. I think I wrote about but can't find >> anything with the phrase "without getting lost." >> >> Best wishes, >> >> Keith >> >> >> On Mon, Feb 12, 2024 at 4:01?PM Brent Allsop via extropy-chat >> wrote: >> > >> > Yea, your talking consciousness or phenomenal (or "spiritual" if you >> will) engineering. >> > And you'll be able to do all these kinds of things you guys are talking >> about. >> > Right now we don't have true free will, we get joy from things like >> having sex. And we need to try to resist those hard wired temptations, >> when sex isn't appropriate. >> > But true free will is having the ability to cut those puppet strings >> given to us by evolution (or God?) and wire joys like that up to what we >> want to do. >> > Emagine when you need to take the garbage out, and you can wire it up >> to be orgasmic. ;) >> > >> > Oh, and the current "world in your head" this is our knowledge of what >> we see, is only about a mile or so in diameter, and very low resolution, >> and composed of only a few color qualities. Emagine discovering thousands >> more color qualities, increasing the resolution, and extents of that bubble >> world by many orders of magnitude. >> > >> > And of course, there is using neural ponytails to "computationally bind >> multiple bubble worlds together in multiple brains. >> > >> > >> > 100 years from now, once we start doing phenomenal engineering like >> this humanity, as we know it, will cease to exist. >> > Intelligence will be a very different thing. >> > >> > Our team, including Steven Lehar, are working on more videos on just >> this topic. Describing in detail what uploading could be engineered to be >> like, and all that. >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > On Mon, Feb 12, 2024 at 3:19?PM Ben Zaiboc via extropy-chat < >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: >> >> >> >> >> >> On 09/02/2024 22:48, bill w wrote: >> >> >> >> I am assuming that an uploaded person can change the programming - the >> parameters. So how can that work? >> >> Suppose one could change the enjoyment of chocolate to the most intense >> >> pleasure possible - like dumping a ton of dopamine into a brain. What >> >> would happen? A biological body would adapt and inhibit extreme >> >> reactions and probably develop an addiction and tolerance. Not in an >> >> upload. You could presumably make every pleasure as intense as >> >> possible. >> >> If you read the news and there was a disaster you could turn off any >> >> negative emotions and just note that news cognitively - no empathy at >> >> all. No feeling bad. >> >> Is that what people want? bill w >> >> >> >> >> >> Ask the opposite question: Suppose an uploaded person could not change >> things like their level of enjoyment (or its opposite) of specific things, >> and they couldn't modulate their emotional responses. Would that be what >> people want? Being stuck with the way you were as a biological brain? >> >> >> >> I envisage something like an 'emotional control panel' that allows you >> to change your emotional states, with the ability to create a whole bunch >> of macros that could, for instance, record the previous settings and revert >> to them when needed, so you could try out different settings and have them >> return to 'normal' after a set period of time, for example. This would >> enable you to safely experiment with changing things, and decide what you >> want to be like without risking diving down a rabbit hole with no way out. >> There is tons of potential with that kind of thing. Naturally, the >> potential for bad outcomes is huge if you could just change these things at >> will, so safety mechanisms, automatic backup and restore, that sort of >> thing, would be needed to make sure you don't accidentally turn into a >> hopeless junkie, a psychopath, etc., etc., and could make deliberate >> decisions based on temporary experiments with various states of mind. >> >> >> >> Personally, I think that an upload without these kind of capabilities >> would be crippled, in terms of disabling a lot of the potential benefits of >> being an upload. >> >> >> >> In addition, this kind of thing will probably be necessary for taking >> the next steps beyond just replicating a biological human's mentality. Part >> of the whole point of uploading would be to enable us to go above and >> beyond being merely human, if and when we want to. >> >> >> >> Ben >> >> _______________________________________________ >> >> extropy-chat mailing list >> >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> > >> > _______________________________________________ >> > extropy-chat mailing list >> > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> >> _______________________________________________ >> extropy-chat mailing list >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From atymes at gmail.com Tue Feb 13 07:02:39 2024 From: atymes at gmail.com (Adrian Tymes) Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2024 23:02:39 -0800 Subject: [ExI] after upload, what? In-Reply-To: References: <0513f78a-6bd7-478b-bceb-6e7fb4bd988e@zaiboc.net> Message-ID: Who just spools up another? If all your active copies are subverted, which u believe is the scenario under discussion, you might not have a way out. On Mon, Feb 12, 2024, 7:33 PM Brent Allsop via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > > It can defend itself if it is instantiated into multiple computationally > bound brains. > If one of them accidentally falls into the sun, or gets hacked by > some incompetent neural engineer, you just spin up another, and > computationally bind to it to be sure it is the same, > all the phenomenal data restored. > > You just need lots of cheap copies. > > > > > On Mon, Feb 12, 2024 at 6:50?PM Darin Sunley via extropy-chat < > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > >> Once you're uploaded, /someone/ will be able to change every parameter of >> your subjective conscious experience. >> >> If they're spectacularly nice, they may even give you permission to do so. >> >> But if they withold that permission, there will be absolutely nothing you >> can do about it. >> >> Furthermore, they will retain the option to modify you in any way they >> see fit. With or without your permission. >> >> Data can't defend itself. >> >> On Mon, Feb 12, 2024 at 5:38?PM Keith Henson via extropy-chat < >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: >> >>> This topic has been discussed for a long time, Drexler wrote about it >>> and so did Marvin Minsky. I think I wrote about but can't find >>> anything with the phrase "without getting lost." >>> >>> Best wishes, >>> >>> Keith >>> >>> >>> On Mon, Feb 12, 2024 at 4:01?PM Brent Allsop via extropy-chat >>> wrote: >>> > >>> > Yea, your talking consciousness or phenomenal (or "spiritual" if you >>> will) engineering. >>> > And you'll be able to do all these kinds of things you guys are >>> talking about. >>> > Right now we don't have true free will, we get joy from things like >>> having sex. And we need to try to resist those hard wired temptations, >>> when sex isn't appropriate. >>> > But true free will is having the ability to cut those puppet strings >>> given to us by evolution (or God?) and wire joys like that up to what we >>> want to do. >>> > Emagine when you need to take the garbage out, and you can wire it up >>> to be orgasmic. ;) >>> > >>> > Oh, and the current "world in your head" this is our knowledge of what >>> we see, is only about a mile or so in diameter, and very low resolution, >>> and composed of only a few color qualities. Emagine discovering thousands >>> more color qualities, increasing the resolution, and extents of that bubble >>> world by many orders of magnitude. >>> > >>> > And of course, there is using neural ponytails to "computationally >>> bind multiple bubble worlds together in multiple brains. >>> > >>> > >>> > 100 years from now, once we start doing phenomenal engineering like >>> this humanity, as we know it, will cease to exist. >>> > Intelligence will be a very different thing. >>> > >>> > Our team, including Steven Lehar, are working on more videos on just >>> this topic. Describing in detail what uploading could be engineered to be >>> like, and all that. >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > On Mon, Feb 12, 2024 at 3:19?PM Ben Zaiboc via extropy-chat < >>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: >>> >> >>> >> >>> >> On 09/02/2024 22:48, bill w wrote: >>> >> >>> >> I am assuming that an uploaded person can change the programming - >>> the parameters. So how can that work? >>> >> Suppose one could change the enjoyment of chocolate to the most >>> intense >>> >> pleasure possible - like dumping a ton of dopamine into a brain. What >>> >> would happen? A biological body would adapt and inhibit extreme >>> >> reactions and probably develop an addiction and tolerance. Not in an >>> >> upload. You could presumably make every pleasure as intense as >>> >> possible. >>> >> If you read the news and there was a disaster you could turn off any >>> >> negative emotions and just note that news cognitively - no empathy at >>> >> all. No feeling bad. >>> >> Is that what people want? bill w >>> >> >>> >> >>> >> Ask the opposite question: Suppose an uploaded person could not >>> change things like their level of enjoyment (or its opposite) of specific >>> things, and they couldn't modulate their emotional responses. Would that be >>> what people want? Being stuck with the way you were as a biological brain? >>> >> >>> >> I envisage something like an 'emotional control panel' that allows >>> you to change your emotional states, with the ability to create a whole >>> bunch of macros that could, for instance, record the previous settings and >>> revert to them when needed, so you could try out different settings and >>> have them return to 'normal' after a set period of time, for example. This >>> would enable you to safely experiment with changing things, and decide what >>> you want to be like without risking diving down a rabbit hole with no way >>> out. There is tons of potential with that kind of thing. Naturally, the >>> potential for bad outcomes is huge if you could just change these things at >>> will, so safety mechanisms, automatic backup and restore, that sort of >>> thing, would be needed to make sure you don't accidentally turn into a >>> hopeless junkie, a psychopath, etc., etc., and could make deliberate >>> decisions based on temporary experiments with various states of mind. >>> >> >>> >> Personally, I think that an upload without these kind of capabilities >>> would be crippled, in terms of disabling a lot of the potential benefits of >>> being an upload. >>> >> >>> >> In addition, this kind of thing will probably be necessary for taking >>> the next steps beyond just replicating a biological human's mentality. Part >>> of the whole point of uploading would be to enable us to go above and >>> beyond being merely human, if and when we want to. >>> >> >>> >> Ben >>> >> _______________________________________________ >>> >> extropy-chat mailing list >>> >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >>> >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >>> > >>> > _______________________________________________ >>> > extropy-chat mailing list >>> > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >>> > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> extropy-chat mailing list >>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >>> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >>> >> _______________________________________________ >> extropy-chat mailing list >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From hkeithhenson at gmail.com Tue Feb 13 07:28:31 2024 From: hkeithhenson at gmail.com (Keith Henson) Date: Mon, 12 Feb 2024 23:28:31 -0800 Subject: [ExI] after upload, what? In-Reply-To: References: <0513f78a-6bd7-478b-bceb-6e7fb4bd988e@zaiboc.net> Message-ID: I kind of suspect that it will be legal to have only one copy at a time active. But who knows? Modifying yourself is probably not a good idea. Minsky went into some detail, but I don't have time to look it up. Keith On Mon, Feb 12, 2024 at 11:04?PM Adrian Tymes via extropy-chat wrote: > > Who just spools up another? If all your active copies are subverted, which u believe is the scenario under discussion, you might not have a way out. > > On Mon, Feb 12, 2024, 7:33 PM Brent Allsop via extropy-chat wrote: >> >> >> It can defend itself if it is instantiated into multiple computationally bound brains. >> If one of them accidentally falls into the sun, or gets hacked by some incompetent neural engineer, you just spin up another, and computationally bind to it to be sure it is the same, >> all the phenomenal data restored. >> >> You just need lots of cheap copies. >> >> >> >> >> On Mon, Feb 12, 2024 at 6:50?PM Darin Sunley via extropy-chat wrote: >>> >>> Once you're uploaded, /someone/ will be able to change every parameter of your subjective conscious experience. >>> >>> If they're spectacularly nice, they may even give you permission to do so. >>> >>> But if they withold that permission, there will be absolutely nothing you can do about it. >>> >>> Furthermore, they will retain the option to modify you in any way they see fit. With or without your permission. >>> >>> Data can't defend itself. >>> >>> On Mon, Feb 12, 2024 at 5:38?PM Keith Henson via extropy-chat wrote: >>>> >>>> This topic has been discussed for a long time, Drexler wrote about it >>>> and so did Marvin Minsky. I think I wrote about but can't find >>>> anything with the phrase "without getting lost." >>>> >>>> Best wishes, >>>> >>>> Keith >>>> >>>> >>>> On Mon, Feb 12, 2024 at 4:01?PM Brent Allsop via extropy-chat >>>> wrote: >>>> > >>>> > Yea, your talking consciousness or phenomenal (or "spiritual" if you will) engineering. >>>> > And you'll be able to do all these kinds of things you guys are talking about. >>>> > Right now we don't have true free will, we get joy from things like having sex. And we need to try to resist those hard wired temptations, when sex isn't appropriate. >>>> > But true free will is having the ability to cut those puppet strings given to us by evolution (or God?) and wire joys like that up to what we want to do. >>>> > Emagine when you need to take the garbage out, and you can wire it up to be orgasmic. ;) >>>> > >>>> > Oh, and the current "world in your head" this is our knowledge of what we see, is only about a mile or so in diameter, and very low resolution, and composed of only a few color qualities. Emagine discovering thousands more color qualities, increasing the resolution, and extents of that bubble world by many orders of magnitude. >>>> > >>>> > And of course, there is using neural ponytails to "computationally bind multiple bubble worlds together in multiple brains. >>>> > >>>> > >>>> > 100 years from now, once we start doing phenomenal engineering like this humanity, as we know it, will cease to exist. >>>> > Intelligence will be a very different thing. >>>> > >>>> > Our team, including Steven Lehar, are working on more videos on just this topic. Describing in detail what uploading could be engineered to be like, and all that. >>>> > >>>> > >>>> > >>>> > >>>> > >>>> > >>>> > On Mon, Feb 12, 2024 at 3:19?PM Ben Zaiboc via extropy-chat wrote: >>>> >> >>>> >> >>>> >> On 09/02/2024 22:48, bill w wrote: >>>> >> >>>> >> I am assuming that an uploaded person can change the programming - the parameters. So how can that work? >>>> >> Suppose one could change the enjoyment of chocolate to the most intense >>>> >> pleasure possible - like dumping a ton of dopamine into a brain. What >>>> >> would happen? A biological body would adapt and inhibit extreme >>>> >> reactions and probably develop an addiction and tolerance. Not in an >>>> >> upload. You could presumably make every pleasure as intense as >>>> >> possible. >>>> >> If you read the news and there was a disaster you could turn off any >>>> >> negative emotions and just note that news cognitively - no empathy at >>>> >> all. No feeling bad. >>>> >> Is that what people want? bill w >>>> >> >>>> >> >>>> >> Ask the opposite question: Suppose an uploaded person could not change things like their level of enjoyment (or its opposite) of specific things, and they couldn't modulate their emotional responses. Would that be what people want? Being stuck with the way you were as a biological brain? >>>> >> >>>> >> I envisage something like an 'emotional control panel' that allows you to change your emotional states, with the ability to create a whole bunch of macros that could, for instance, record the previous settings and revert to them when needed, so you could try out different settings and have them return to 'normal' after a set period of time, for example. This would enable you to safely experiment with changing things, and decide what you want to be like without risking diving down a rabbit hole with no way out. There is tons of potential with that kind of thing. Naturally, the potential for bad outcomes is huge if you could just change these things at will, so safety mechanisms, automatic backup and restore, that sort of thing, would be needed to make sure you don't accidentally turn into a hopeless junkie, a psychopath, etc., etc., and could make deliberate decisions based on temporary experiments with various states of mind. >>>> >> >>>> >> Personally, I think that an upload without these kind of capabilities would be crippled, in terms of disabling a lot of the potential benefits of being an upload. >>>> >> >>>> >> In addition, this kind of thing will probably be necessary for taking the next steps beyond just replicating a biological human's mentality. Part of the whole point of uploading would be to enable us to go above and beyond being merely human, if and when we want to. >>>> >> >>>> >> Ben >>>> >> _______________________________________________ >>>> >> extropy-chat mailing list >>>> >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >>>> >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >>>> > >>>> > _______________________________________________ >>>> > extropy-chat mailing list >>>> > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >>>> > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> extropy-chat mailing list >>>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >>>> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> extropy-chat mailing list >>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >>> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> >> _______________________________________________ >> extropy-chat mailing list >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat From ben at zaiboc.net Tue Feb 13 10:15:45 2024 From: ben at zaiboc.net (Ben Zaiboc) Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2024 10:15:45 +0000 Subject: [ExI] uploads and mariachi bands In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On 13/02/2024 00:37, spike wrote: > For instance? what if? I upload, and realize I never have experiences > like one I remember with crystal vision, the way I felt in Feb 2024 at > Berkeley, listening to a mariachi band musically seduce young ladies > into situations where a next generation of meat-being is given a chance > to come into existence?? Regardless of how good that uploaded existence > is, Imagine I miss that Berkeley mariachi feeling so much, I want to see > to it that the feelings I had yesterday are given a chance to be felt > again, into the future, indefinitely. Spike, what would prevent you, as an upload, having these experiences? If you realise you happen to never have any experiences you recall having as a biological being, you can arrange to have them again, at will, as an upload. If some mariachi band and a suitable couple haven't also uploaded, or have moved on from those behaviours, you could always recreate the experiences you were missing in your own mind. I see no reason anyone would not be able to have any experiences they wanted to, as an upload. Just as we currently have AI systems that you can give a description to, and they can create an image, still or moving, of what you've asked for, I expect there will be systems that can take a memory and turn it into an interactive experience for uploads. I fully expect that uploads will be able to have any experience any un-uploaded person can have, and then some. Ben -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tara at taramayastales.com Tue Feb 13 16:05:14 2024 From: tara at taramayastales.com (Tara Maya) Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2024 08:05:14 -0800 Subject: [ExI] uploads and mariachi bands In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: No one can have an experience at Will if the circumstances of that experience aren?t real; they can only have the illusion of an experience. You could recreate a memory or a fantasy of hearing a mariachi band but unless the band of other people were there, you?d not be experiencing the band itself only the simulacra of the band. A painting is not the thing it portrays. > On Feb 13, 2024, at 02:17, Ben Zaiboc via extropy-chat wrote: > > ? >> On 13/02/2024 00:37, spike wrote: >> For instance? what if? I upload, and realize I never have experiences >> like one I remember with crystal vision, the way I felt in Feb 2024 at >> Berkeley, listening to a mariachi band musically seduce young ladies >> into situations where a next generation of meat-being is given a chance >> to come into existence? Regardless of how good that uploaded existence >> is, Imagine I miss that Berkeley mariachi feeling so much, I want to see >> to it that the feelings I had yesterday are given a chance to be felt >> again, into the future, indefinitely. > > Spike, what would prevent you, as an upload, having these experiences? > > If you realise you happen to never have any experiences you recall having as a biological being, you can arrange to have them again, at will, as an upload. > > If some mariachi band and a suitable couple haven't also uploaded, or have moved on from those behaviours, you could always recreate the experiences you were missing in your own mind. I see no reason anyone would not be able to have any experiences they wanted to, as an upload. Just as we currently have AI systems that you can give a description to, and they can create an image, still or moving, of what you've asked for, I expect there will be systems that can take a memory and turn it into an interactive experience for uploads. > > I fully expect that uploads will be able to have any experience any un-uploaded person can have, and then some. > > Ben > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat From atymes at gmail.com Tue Feb 13 16:15:01 2024 From: atymes at gmail.com (Adrian Tymes) Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2024 08:15:01 -0800 Subject: [ExI] uploads and mariachi bands In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: If one experiences an illusion, is not one's experience itself real even if the thing that was experienced was an illusion? On Tue, Feb 13, 2024 at 8:07?AM Tara Maya via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > No one can have an experience at Will if the circumstances of that > experience aren?t real; they can only have the illusion of an experience. > > You could recreate a memory or a fantasy of hearing a mariachi band but > unless the band of other people were there, you?d not be experiencing the > band itself only the simulacra of the band. > > A painting is not the thing it portrays. > > > On Feb 13, 2024, at 02:17, Ben Zaiboc via extropy-chat < > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > > > > ? > >> On 13/02/2024 00:37, spike wrote: > >> For instance? what if? I upload, and realize I never have experiences > >> like one I remember with crystal vision, the way I felt in Feb 2024 at > >> Berkeley, listening to a mariachi band musically seduce young ladies > >> into situations where a next generation of meat-being is given a chance > >> to come into existence? Regardless of how good that uploaded existence > >> is, Imagine I miss that Berkeley mariachi feeling so much, I want to see > >> to it that the feelings I had yesterday are given a chance to be felt > >> again, into the future, indefinitely. > > > > Spike, what would prevent you, as an upload, having these experiences? > > > > If you realise you happen to never have any experiences you recall > having as a biological being, you can arrange to have them again, at will, > as an upload. > > > > If some mariachi band and a suitable couple haven't also uploaded, or > have moved on from those behaviours, you could always recreate the > experiences you were missing in your own mind. I see no reason anyone would > not be able to have any experiences they wanted to, as an upload. Just as > we currently have AI systems that you can give a description to, and they > can create an image, still or moving, of what you've asked for, I expect > there will be systems that can take a memory and turn it into an > interactive experience for uploads. > > > > I fully expect that uploads will be able to have any experience any > un-uploaded person can have, and then some. > > > > Ben > > _______________________________________________ > > extropy-chat mailing list > > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From spike at rainier66.com Tue Feb 13 16:19:04 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2024 08:19:04 -0800 Subject: [ExI] uploads and mariachi bands In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <007101da5e98$5d244930$176cdb90$@rainier66.com> > On Feb 13, 2024, at 02:17, Ben Zaiboc via extropy-chat wrote: > > ? >> On 13/02/2024 00:37, spike wrote: >> For instance? what if? I upload, and realize I never have experiences >> like one I remember with crystal vision, the way I felt in Feb 2024 >> at Berkeley, listening to a mariachi band musically seduce young >> ladies ... > > Spike, what would prevent you, as an upload, having these experiences? ... > > I fully expect that uploads will be able to have any experience any un-uploaded person can have, and then some. > > Ben > _______________________________________________ Your scenario is entirely plausible Ben. My notion was that an upload might long for new such experiences. But your scenario is to intentionally erase the memory of such an event and play it back again. Another way to go with it: suppose an upload wishes to experience the span of human meat existence. That could be done, with extensive file sharing, analogous to trying to play every video game ever written or read every book in the library. Still one might wish to go to the local bookstore, even if one has not read every book in one's own home. Tara, may you, and all present have many experiences like my Berkeley mariachi day. spike From foozler83 at gmail.com Tue Feb 13 17:32:20 2024 From: foozler83 at gmail.com (William Flynn Wallace) Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2024 11:32:20 -0600 Subject: [ExI] uploads and mariachi bands In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: I would add that if something creates brainwaves- dreams, illusions, hallucinations - then it's a real thing. A map is a real thing even if it isn't the territory. bill w On Tue, Feb 13, 2024 at 10:17?AM Adrian Tymes via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > If one experiences an illusion, is not one's experience itself real even > if the thing that was experienced was an illusion? > > On Tue, Feb 13, 2024 at 8:07?AM Tara Maya via extropy-chat < > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > >> No one can have an experience at Will if the circumstances of that >> experience aren?t real; they can only have the illusion of an experience. >> >> You could recreate a memory or a fantasy of hearing a mariachi band but >> unless the band of other people were there, you?d not be experiencing the >> band itself only the simulacra of the band. >> >> A painting is not the thing it portrays. >> >> > On Feb 13, 2024, at 02:17, Ben Zaiboc via extropy-chat < >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: >> > >> > ? >> >> On 13/02/2024 00:37, spike wrote: >> >> For instance? what if? I upload, and realize I never have experiences >> >> like one I remember with crystal vision, the way I felt in Feb 2024 at >> >> Berkeley, listening to a mariachi band musically seduce young ladies >> >> into situations where a next generation of meat-being is given a >> chance >> >> to come into existence? Regardless of how good that uploaded >> existence >> >> is, Imagine I miss that Berkeley mariachi feeling so much, I want to >> see >> >> to it that the feelings I had yesterday are given a chance to be felt >> >> again, into the future, indefinitely. >> > >> > Spike, what would prevent you, as an upload, having these experiences? >> > >> > If you realise you happen to never have any experiences you recall >> having as a biological being, you can arrange to have them again, at will, >> as an upload. >> > >> > If some mariachi band and a suitable couple haven't also uploaded, or >> have moved on from those behaviours, you could always recreate the >> experiences you were missing in your own mind. I see no reason anyone would >> not be able to have any experiences they wanted to, as an upload. Just as >> we currently have AI systems that you can give a description to, and they >> can create an image, still or moving, of what you've asked for, I expect >> there will be systems that can take a memory and turn it into an >> interactive experience for uploads. >> > >> > I fully expect that uploads will be able to have any experience any >> un-uploaded person can have, and then some. >> > >> > Ben >> > _______________________________________________ >> > extropy-chat mailing list >> > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> >> _______________________________________________ >> extropy-chat mailing list >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ben at zaiboc.net Tue Feb 13 18:02:29 2024 From: ben at zaiboc.net (Ben Zaiboc) Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2024 18:02:29 +0000 Subject: [ExI] uploads and mariachi bands In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <4c30ee35-d473-40bd-aaa2-840d8e9b2760@zaiboc.net> On 13/02/2024 17:32, Tara Maya wrote: > No one can have an experience at Will if the circumstances of that > experience aren?t real; they can only have the illusion of an > experience. > > You could recreate a memory or a fantasy of hearing a mariachi band but > unless the band of other people were there, you?d not be experiencing > the band itself only the simulacra of the band. > > A painting is not the thing it portrays. Real? Define 'real', in this context. Do you accept that we create the world that we experience? That each person builds a world from their sensory inputs, and for them, that is 'the world'? If so, then there is no problem, and an 'illusion' of an experience is the same thing as the experience. If not, then you have to explain how we can apprehend the 'real' world without actually creating it in our own minds. In this particular case, of minds, the map is the important thing, not the territory. We never, ever, experience the territory, just the map that we create in our own heads (built from many sensory and memory inputs). The painting is all we ever know about. What it portrays is forever beyond our reach. A high-quality reproduction of the painting is just as good as the original painting, in every respect. Therefore, experiencing a simulacrum of a mariachi band is identical to 'really' experiencing the band. 'Reality' is what we create in our heads. Ben -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From brent.allsop at gmail.com Tue Feb 13 18:29:37 2024 From: brent.allsop at gmail.com (Brent Allsop) Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2024 11:29:37 -0700 Subject: [ExI] after upload, what? In-Reply-To: References: <0513f78a-6bd7-478b-bceb-6e7fb4bd988e@zaiboc.net> Message-ID: I can't understand why someone would think people could only ever have one copy of themselves, once creating and binding multiple copies becomes trivally easy. And children are more or less copies, already. What is the difference? I have become my father, more or less. The reason Elon wants to get to mars is for the same reason. We need multiple copies of humanity. On Tue, Feb 13, 2024 at 12:29?AM Keith Henson via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > I kind of suspect that it will be legal to have only one copy at a time > active. > > But who knows? > > Modifying yourself is probably not a good idea. Minsky went into some > detail, but I don't have time to look it up. > > Keith > > On Mon, Feb 12, 2024 at 11:04?PM Adrian Tymes via extropy-chat > wrote: > > > > Who just spools up another? If all your active copies are subverted, > which u believe is the scenario under discussion, you might not have a way > out. > > > > On Mon, Feb 12, 2024, 7:33 PM Brent Allsop via extropy-chat < > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > >> > >> > >> It can defend itself if it is instantiated into multiple > computationally bound brains. > >> If one of them accidentally falls into the sun, or gets hacked by some > incompetent neural engineer, you just spin up another, and computationally > bind to it to be sure it is the same, > >> all the phenomenal data restored. > >> > >> You just need lots of cheap copies. > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> On Mon, Feb 12, 2024 at 6:50?PM Darin Sunley via extropy-chat < > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > >>> > >>> Once you're uploaded, /someone/ will be able to change every parameter > of your subjective conscious experience. > >>> > >>> If they're spectacularly nice, they may even give you permission to do > so. > >>> > >>> But if they withold that permission, there will be absolutely nothing > you can do about it. > >>> > >>> Furthermore, they will retain the option to modify you in any way they > see fit. With or without your permission. > >>> > >>> Data can't defend itself. > >>> > >>> On Mon, Feb 12, 2024 at 5:38?PM Keith Henson via extropy-chat < > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > >>>> > >>>> This topic has been discussed for a long time, Drexler wrote about it > >>>> and so did Marvin Minsky. I think I wrote about but can't find > >>>> anything with the phrase "without getting lost." > >>>> > >>>> Best wishes, > >>>> > >>>> Keith > >>>> > >>>> > >>>> On Mon, Feb 12, 2024 at 4:01?PM Brent Allsop via extropy-chat > >>>> wrote: > >>>> > > >>>> > Yea, your talking consciousness or phenomenal (or "spiritual" if > you will) engineering. > >>>> > And you'll be able to do all these kinds of things you guys are > talking about. > >>>> > Right now we don't have true free will, we get joy from things like > having sex. And we need to try to resist those hard wired temptations, > when sex isn't appropriate. > >>>> > But true free will is having the ability to cut those puppet > strings given to us by evolution (or God?) and wire joys like that up to > what we want to do. > >>>> > Emagine when you need to take the garbage out, and you can wire it > up to be orgasmic. ;) > >>>> > > >>>> > Oh, and the current "world in your head" this is our knowledge of > what we see, is only about a mile or so in diameter, and very low > resolution, and composed of only a few color qualities. Emagine > discovering thousands more color qualities, increasing the resolution, and > extents of that bubble world by many orders of magnitude. > >>>> > > >>>> > And of course, there is using neural ponytails to "computationally > bind multiple bubble worlds together in multiple brains. > >>>> > > >>>> > > >>>> > 100 years from now, once we start doing phenomenal engineering like > this humanity, as we know it, will cease to exist. > >>>> > Intelligence will be a very different thing. > >>>> > > >>>> > Our team, including Steven Lehar, are working on more videos on > just this topic. Describing in detail what uploading could be engineered > to be like, and all that. > >>>> > > >>>> > > >>>> > > >>>> > > >>>> > > >>>> > > >>>> > On Mon, Feb 12, 2024 at 3:19?PM Ben Zaiboc via extropy-chat < > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > >>>> >> > >>>> >> > >>>> >> On 09/02/2024 22:48, bill w wrote: > >>>> >> > >>>> >> I am assuming that an uploaded person can change the programming - > the parameters. So how can that work? > >>>> >> Suppose one could change the enjoyment of chocolate to the most > intense > >>>> >> pleasure possible - like dumping a ton of dopamine into a brain. > What > >>>> >> would happen? A biological body would adapt and inhibit extreme > >>>> >> reactions and probably develop an addiction and tolerance. Not in > an > >>>> >> upload. You could presumably make every pleasure as intense as > >>>> >> possible. > >>>> >> If you read the news and there was a disaster you could turn off > any > >>>> >> negative emotions and just note that news cognitively - no empathy > at > >>>> >> all. No feeling bad. > >>>> >> Is that what people want? bill w > >>>> >> > >>>> >> > >>>> >> Ask the opposite question: Suppose an uploaded person could not > change things like their level of enjoyment (or its opposite) of specific > things, and they couldn't modulate their emotional responses. Would that be > what people want? Being stuck with the way you were as a biological brain? > >>>> >> > >>>> >> I envisage something like an 'emotional control panel' that allows > you to change your emotional states, with the ability to create a whole > bunch of macros that could, for instance, record the previous settings and > revert to them when needed, so you could try out different settings and > have them return to 'normal' after a set period of time, for example. This > would enable you to safely experiment with changing things, and decide what > you want to be like without risking diving down a rabbit hole with no way > out. There is tons of potential with that kind of thing. Naturally, the > potential for bad outcomes is huge if you could just change these things at > will, so safety mechanisms, automatic backup and restore, that sort of > thing, would be needed to make sure you don't accidentally turn into a > hopeless junkie, a psychopath, etc., etc., and could make deliberate > decisions based on temporary experiments with various states of mind. > >>>> >> > >>>> >> Personally, I think that an upload without these kind of > capabilities would be crippled, in terms of disabling a lot of the > potential benefits of being an upload. > >>>> >> > >>>> >> In addition, this kind of thing will probably be necessary for > taking the next steps beyond just replicating a biological human's > mentality. Part of the whole point of uploading would be to enable us to go > above and beyond being merely human, if and when we want to. > >>>> >> > >>>> >> Ben > >>>> >> _______________________________________________ > >>>> >> extropy-chat mailing list > >>>> >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > >>>> >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > >>>> > > >>>> > _______________________________________________ > >>>> > extropy-chat mailing list > >>>> > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > >>>> > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > >>>> > >>>> _______________________________________________ > >>>> extropy-chat mailing list > >>>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > >>>> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > >>> > >>> _______________________________________________ > >>> extropy-chat mailing list > >>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > >>> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> extropy-chat mailing list > >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > > > > _______________________________________________ > > extropy-chat mailing list > > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From foozler83 at gmail.com Tue Feb 13 18:40:19 2024 From: foozler83 at gmail.com (William Flynn Wallace) Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2024 12:40:19 -0600 Subject: [ExI] after upload, what? In-Reply-To: References: <0513f78a-6bd7-478b-bceb-6e7fb4bd988e@zaiboc.net> Message-ID: I wonder what the cost would be, per ounce, of sending food to Mars? bill w On Tue, Feb 13, 2024 at 12:31?PM Brent Allsop via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > > I can't understand why someone would think people could only ever have one > copy of themselves, once creating and binding multiple copies becomes > trivally easy. > > And children are more or less copies, already. What is the difference? I > have become my father, more or less. > > The reason Elon wants to get to mars is for the same reason. We need > multiple copies of humanity. > > > > On Tue, Feb 13, 2024 at 12:29?AM Keith Henson via extropy-chat < > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > >> I kind of suspect that it will be legal to have only one copy at a time >> active. >> >> But who knows? >> >> Modifying yourself is probably not a good idea. Minsky went into some >> detail, but I don't have time to look it up. >> >> Keith >> >> On Mon, Feb 12, 2024 at 11:04?PM Adrian Tymes via extropy-chat >> wrote: >> > >> > Who just spools up another? If all your active copies are subverted, >> which u believe is the scenario under discussion, you might not have a way >> out. >> > >> > On Mon, Feb 12, 2024, 7:33 PM Brent Allsop via extropy-chat < >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: >> >> >> >> >> >> It can defend itself if it is instantiated into multiple >> computationally bound brains. >> >> If one of them accidentally falls into the sun, or gets hacked by some >> incompetent neural engineer, you just spin up another, and computationally >> bind to it to be sure it is the same, >> >> all the phenomenal data restored. >> >> >> >> You just need lots of cheap copies. >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> On Mon, Feb 12, 2024 at 6:50?PM Darin Sunley via extropy-chat < >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: >> >>> >> >>> Once you're uploaded, /someone/ will be able to change every >> parameter of your subjective conscious experience. >> >>> >> >>> If they're spectacularly nice, they may even give you permission to >> do so. >> >>> >> >>> But if they withold that permission, there will be absolutely nothing >> you can do about it. >> >>> >> >>> Furthermore, they will retain the option to modify you in any way >> they see fit. With or without your permission. >> >>> >> >>> Data can't defend itself. >> >>> >> >>> On Mon, Feb 12, 2024 at 5:38?PM Keith Henson via extropy-chat < >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: >> >>>> >> >>>> This topic has been discussed for a long time, Drexler wrote about it >> >>>> and so did Marvin Minsky. I think I wrote about but can't find >> >>>> anything with the phrase "without getting lost." >> >>>> >> >>>> Best wishes, >> >>>> >> >>>> Keith >> >>>> >> >>>> >> >>>> On Mon, Feb 12, 2024 at 4:01?PM Brent Allsop via extropy-chat >> >>>> wrote: >> >>>> > >> >>>> > Yea, your talking consciousness or phenomenal (or "spiritual" if >> you will) engineering. >> >>>> > And you'll be able to do all these kinds of things you guys are >> talking about. >> >>>> > Right now we don't have true free will, we get joy from things >> like having sex. And we need to try to resist those hard wired >> temptations, when sex isn't appropriate. >> >>>> > But true free will is having the ability to cut those puppet >> strings given to us by evolution (or God?) and wire joys like that up to >> what we want to do. >> >>>> > Emagine when you need to take the garbage out, and you can wire it >> up to be orgasmic. ;) >> >>>> > >> >>>> > Oh, and the current "world in your head" this is our knowledge of >> what we see, is only about a mile or so in diameter, and very low >> resolution, and composed of only a few color qualities. Emagine >> discovering thousands more color qualities, increasing the resolution, and >> extents of that bubble world by many orders of magnitude. >> >>>> > >> >>>> > And of course, there is using neural ponytails to "computationally >> bind multiple bubble worlds together in multiple brains. >> >>>> > >> >>>> > >> >>>> > 100 years from now, once we start doing phenomenal engineering >> like this humanity, as we know it, will cease to exist. >> >>>> > Intelligence will be a very different thing. >> >>>> > >> >>>> > Our team, including Steven Lehar, are working on more videos on >> just this topic. Describing in detail what uploading could be engineered >> to be like, and all that. >> >>>> > >> >>>> > >> >>>> > >> >>>> > >> >>>> > >> >>>> > >> >>>> > On Mon, Feb 12, 2024 at 3:19?PM Ben Zaiboc via extropy-chat < >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: >> >>>> >> >> >>>> >> >> >>>> >> On 09/02/2024 22:48, bill w wrote: >> >>>> >> >> >>>> >> I am assuming that an uploaded person can change the programming >> - the parameters. So how can that work? >> >>>> >> Suppose one could change the enjoyment of chocolate to the most >> intense >> >>>> >> pleasure possible - like dumping a ton of dopamine into a brain. >> What >> >>>> >> would happen? A biological body would adapt and inhibit extreme >> >>>> >> reactions and probably develop an addiction and tolerance. Not >> in an >> >>>> >> upload. You could presumably make every pleasure as intense as >> >>>> >> possible. >> >>>> >> If you read the news and there was a disaster you could turn off >> any >> >>>> >> negative emotions and just note that news cognitively - no >> empathy at >> >>>> >> all. No feeling bad. >> >>>> >> Is that what people want? bill w >> >>>> >> >> >>>> >> >> >>>> >> Ask the opposite question: Suppose an uploaded person could not >> change things like their level of enjoyment (or its opposite) of specific >> things, and they couldn't modulate their emotional responses. Would that be >> what people want? Being stuck with the way you were as a biological brain? >> >>>> >> >> >>>> >> I envisage something like an 'emotional control panel' that >> allows you to change your emotional states, with the ability to create a >> whole bunch of macros that could, for instance, record the previous >> settings and revert to them when needed, so you could try out different >> settings and have them return to 'normal' after a set period of time, for >> example. This would enable you to safely experiment with changing things, >> and decide what you want to be like without risking diving down a rabbit >> hole with no way out. There is tons of potential with that kind of thing. >> Naturally, the potential for bad outcomes is huge if you could just change >> these things at will, so safety mechanisms, automatic backup and restore, >> that sort of thing, would be needed to make sure you don't accidentally >> turn into a hopeless junkie, a psychopath, etc., etc., and could make >> deliberate decisions based on temporary experiments with various states of >> mind. >> >>>> >> >> >>>> >> Personally, I think that an upload without these kind of >> capabilities would be crippled, in terms of disabling a lot of the >> potential benefits of being an upload. >> >>>> >> >> >>>> >> In addition, this kind of thing will probably be necessary for >> taking the next steps beyond just replicating a biological human's >> mentality. Part of the whole point of uploading would be to enable us to go >> above and beyond being merely human, if and when we want to. >> >>>> >> >> >>>> >> Ben >> >>>> >> _______________________________________________ >> >>>> >> extropy-chat mailing list >> >>>> >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> >>>> >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> >>>> > >> >>>> > _______________________________________________ >> >>>> > extropy-chat mailing list >> >>>> > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> >>>> > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> >>>> >> >>>> _______________________________________________ >> >>>> extropy-chat mailing list >> >>>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> >>>> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> >>> >> >>> _______________________________________________ >> >>> extropy-chat mailing list >> >>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> >>> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> >> extropy-chat mailing list >> >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> > >> > _______________________________________________ >> > extropy-chat mailing list >> > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> >> _______________________________________________ >> extropy-chat mailing list >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tara at taramayastales.com Tue Feb 13 18:44:06 2024 From: tara at taramayastales.com (Tara Maya) Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2024 10:44:06 -0800 Subject: [ExI] uploads and mariachi bands In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <41987152-1598-4007-BE57-C3B68B29E293@taramayastales.com> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tara at taramayastales.com Tue Feb 13 18:50:52 2024 From: tara at taramayastales.com (Tara Maya) Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2024 10:50:52 -0800 Subject: [ExI] uploads and mariachi bands In-Reply-To: <41987152-1598-4007-BE57-C3B68B29E293@taramayastales.com> References: <41987152-1598-4007-BE57-C3B68B29E293@taramayastales.com> Message-ID: <87C40BB7-8B28-47A4-A55C-733F13DB0E20@taramayastales.com> An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From brent.allsop at gmail.com Tue Feb 13 18:56:56 2024 From: brent.allsop at gmail.com (Brent Allsop) Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2024 11:56:56 -0700 Subject: [ExI] after upload, what? In-Reply-To: References: <0513f78a-6bd7-478b-bceb-6e7fb4bd988e@zaiboc.net> Message-ID: I don't understand why Elon, the person who achieved so much success by focusing on "first principles" seems to completely miss first principles when going to space early. We need to figure out how to modify our bodies, and to do phenomenal engineering, so we can design bodies that don't need space suits, the kind that doesn't need exercise while in transit, bodies that don't need the kind of 'food' you are talking about, and so on. A body that thrives in the martian or space environment. like our probes and robots do. Once we figure all that out, THEN we can go to mars, right? Elon seems to have going to space bass acwards. On Tue, Feb 13, 2024 at 11:41?AM William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > I wonder what the cost would be, per ounce, of sending food to Mars? > bill w > > On Tue, Feb 13, 2024 at 12:31?PM Brent Allsop via extropy-chat < > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > >> >> I can't understand why someone would think people could only ever have >> one copy of themselves, once creating and binding multiple copies becomes >> trivally easy. >> >> And children are more or less copies, already. What is the difference? >> I have become my father, more or less. >> >> The reason Elon wants to get to mars is for the same reason. We need >> multiple copies of humanity. >> >> >> >> On Tue, Feb 13, 2024 at 12:29?AM Keith Henson via extropy-chat < >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: >> >>> I kind of suspect that it will be legal to have only one copy at a time >>> active. >>> >>> But who knows? >>> >>> Modifying yourself is probably not a good idea. Minsky went into some >>> detail, but I don't have time to look it up. >>> >>> Keith >>> >>> On Mon, Feb 12, 2024 at 11:04?PM Adrian Tymes via extropy-chat >>> wrote: >>> > >>> > Who just spools up another? If all your active copies are subverted, >>> which u believe is the scenario under discussion, you might not have a way >>> out. >>> > >>> > On Mon, Feb 12, 2024, 7:33 PM Brent Allsop via extropy-chat < >>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: >>> >> >>> >> >>> >> It can defend itself if it is instantiated into multiple >>> computationally bound brains. >>> >> If one of them accidentally falls into the sun, or gets hacked by >>> some incompetent neural engineer, you just spin up another, and >>> computationally bind to it to be sure it is the same, >>> >> all the phenomenal data restored. >>> >> >>> >> You just need lots of cheap copies. >>> >> >>> >> >>> >> >>> >> >>> >> On Mon, Feb 12, 2024 at 6:50?PM Darin Sunley via extropy-chat < >>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: >>> >>> >>> >>> Once you're uploaded, /someone/ will be able to change every >>> parameter of your subjective conscious experience. >>> >>> >>> >>> If they're spectacularly nice, they may even give you permission to >>> do so. >>> >>> >>> >>> But if they withold that permission, there will be absolutely >>> nothing you can do about it. >>> >>> >>> >>> Furthermore, they will retain the option to modify you in any way >>> they see fit. With or without your permission. >>> >>> >>> >>> Data can't defend itself. >>> >>> >>> >>> On Mon, Feb 12, 2024 at 5:38?PM Keith Henson via extropy-chat < >>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: >>> >>>> >>> >>>> This topic has been discussed for a long time, Drexler wrote about >>> it >>> >>>> and so did Marvin Minsky. I think I wrote about but can't find >>> >>>> anything with the phrase "without getting lost." >>> >>>> >>> >>>> Best wishes, >>> >>>> >>> >>>> Keith >>> >>>> >>> >>>> >>> >>>> On Mon, Feb 12, 2024 at 4:01?PM Brent Allsop via extropy-chat >>> >>>> wrote: >>> >>>> > >>> >>>> > Yea, your talking consciousness or phenomenal (or "spiritual" if >>> you will) engineering. >>> >>>> > And you'll be able to do all these kinds of things you guys are >>> talking about. >>> >>>> > Right now we don't have true free will, we get joy from things >>> like having sex. And we need to try to resist those hard wired >>> temptations, when sex isn't appropriate. >>> >>>> > But true free will is having the ability to cut those puppet >>> strings given to us by evolution (or God?) and wire joys like that up to >>> what we want to do. >>> >>>> > Emagine when you need to take the garbage out, and you can wire >>> it up to be orgasmic. ;) >>> >>>> > >>> >>>> > Oh, and the current "world in your head" this is our knowledge of >>> what we see, is only about a mile or so in diameter, and very low >>> resolution, and composed of only a few color qualities. Emagine >>> discovering thousands more color qualities, increasing the resolution, and >>> extents of that bubble world by many orders of magnitude. >>> >>>> > >>> >>>> > And of course, there is using neural ponytails to >>> "computationally bind multiple bubble worlds together in multiple brains. >>> >>>> > >>> >>>> > >>> >>>> > 100 years from now, once we start doing phenomenal engineering >>> like this humanity, as we know it, will cease to exist. >>> >>>> > Intelligence will be a very different thing. >>> >>>> > >>> >>>> > Our team, including Steven Lehar, are working on more videos on >>> just this topic. Describing in detail what uploading could be engineered >>> to be like, and all that. >>> >>>> > >>> >>>> > >>> >>>> > >>> >>>> > >>> >>>> > >>> >>>> > >>> >>>> > On Mon, Feb 12, 2024 at 3:19?PM Ben Zaiboc via extropy-chat < >>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: >>> >>>> >> >>> >>>> >> >>> >>>> >> On 09/02/2024 22:48, bill w wrote: >>> >>>> >> >>> >>>> >> I am assuming that an uploaded person can change the programming >>> - the parameters. So how can that work? >>> >>>> >> Suppose one could change the enjoyment of chocolate to the most >>> intense >>> >>>> >> pleasure possible - like dumping a ton of dopamine into a >>> brain. What >>> >>>> >> would happen? A biological body would adapt and inhibit extreme >>> >>>> >> reactions and probably develop an addiction and tolerance. Not >>> in an >>> >>>> >> upload. You could presumably make every pleasure as intense as >>> >>>> >> possible. >>> >>>> >> If you read the news and there was a disaster you could turn off >>> any >>> >>>> >> negative emotions and just note that news cognitively - no >>> empathy at >>> >>>> >> all. No feeling bad. >>> >>>> >> Is that what people want? bill w >>> >>>> >> >>> >>>> >> >>> >>>> >> Ask the opposite question: Suppose an uploaded person could not >>> change things like their level of enjoyment (or its opposite) of specific >>> things, and they couldn't modulate their emotional responses. Would that be >>> what people want? Being stuck with the way you were as a biological brain? >>> >>>> >> >>> >>>> >> I envisage something like an 'emotional control panel' that >>> allows you to change your emotional states, with the ability to create a >>> whole bunch of macros that could, for instance, record the previous >>> settings and revert to them when needed, so you could try out different >>> settings and have them return to 'normal' after a set period of time, for >>> example. This would enable you to safely experiment with changing things, >>> and decide what you want to be like without risking diving down a rabbit >>> hole with no way out. There is tons of potential with that kind of thing. >>> Naturally, the potential for bad outcomes is huge if you could just change >>> these things at will, so safety mechanisms, automatic backup and restore, >>> that sort of thing, would be needed to make sure you don't accidentally >>> turn into a hopeless junkie, a psychopath, etc., etc., and could make >>> deliberate decisions based on temporary experiments with various states of >>> mind. >>> >>>> >> >>> >>>> >> Personally, I think that an upload without these kind of >>> capabilities would be crippled, in terms of disabling a lot of the >>> potential benefits of being an upload. >>> >>>> >> >>> >>>> >> In addition, this kind of thing will probably be necessary for >>> taking the next steps beyond just replicating a biological human's >>> mentality. Part of the whole point of uploading would be to enable us to go >>> above and beyond being merely human, if and when we want to. >>> >>>> >> >>> >>>> >> Ben >>> >>>> >> _______________________________________________ >>> >>>> >> extropy-chat mailing list >>> >>>> >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >>> >>>> >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >>> >>>> > >>> >>>> > _______________________________________________ >>> >>>> > extropy-chat mailing list >>> >>>> > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >>> >>>> > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >>> >>>> >>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>> >>>> extropy-chat mailing list >>> >>>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >>> >>>> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >>> >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> >>> extropy-chat mailing list >>> >>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >>> >>> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >>> >> >>> >> _______________________________________________ >>> >> extropy-chat mailing list >>> >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >>> >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >>> > >>> > _______________________________________________ >>> > extropy-chat mailing list >>> > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >>> > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> extropy-chat mailing list >>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >>> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >>> >> _______________________________________________ >> extropy-chat mailing list >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From hkeithhenson at gmail.com Tue Feb 13 20:04:00 2024 From: hkeithhenson at gmail.com (Keith Henson) Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2024 12:04:00 -0800 Subject: [ExI] after upload, what? In-Reply-To: References: <0513f78a-6bd7-478b-bceb-6e7fb4bd988e@zaiboc.net> Message-ID: On Tue, Feb 13, 2024 at 10:31?AM Brent Allsop via extropy-chat wrote: > > I can't understand why someone would think people could only ever have one copy of themselves, once creating and binding multiple copies becomes trivally easy. Have you ever considered how annoying a copy would be? Who controls the bank account? Which one gets the wife? (I know, run off a copy of the wife as well). But the main problem is an insane increase in the population. Even as an upload, a copy is going to burn resources. Also, if there are 40 of you bidding for the same work, it's an instant race to the bottom. > And children are more or less copies, already. What is the difference? I have become my father, more or less. Children are not copies. Nor are they easy to raise to adulthood. We still have an overpopulation problem. I wrote about raising clones in an almost depopulated world. > The reason Elon wants to get to mars is for the same reason. We need multiple copies of humanity. It would take a very short time to fill up Mars if it were habitable. I think the only case where copies will be permitted is when people are leaving for the stars and you can't get enough to fill up the starships. But I could be wrong. I suspect the light-blocking structures at Tabby's Star (and at least 24 others in the cluster) are data centers able to support trillions of uploads. So maybe copies are in our future. Keith April had been born in 1980 when Amanda was thirty-six. In spite of trying, (and two miscarriages) she didn't have another before the clinics and the physical world population crash they caused. If she wanted, she could call up intensely preserved memories of her first child and restored video of her. She sent off a thought and was pinged back by her oldest daughter (or an automated process her daughter had set up, it was hard to tell with those who had transcended). The next child had been born right at the low point in the population eighty-one years later and thirty years after she and Dwight had gone through their first partial rejuvenation. They had stayed outside the clinics and the virtual worlds when they became popular and were encouraged to have a much more extensive rejuvenation and genome upgrade if they were interested in raising kids to maintain a human population presence. (The attractions of the uploaded life had turned out to be too good, and the "powers that be" whoever or whatever they might be had decided to try to stabilize a physical state human population above zero.) Bob was a clone of Dwight, Connie was a clone of Amanda and Duncan was a clone of a friend who had died before rejuvenation. (His DNA had been recovered from an envelope flap.) A lot of Amanda's friends raised clones of themselves and their partners in the first years after the population bottom. Raising your own clones rapidly went out of style. It was amazing how annoying kids that much like you can be. >From "The Clinic Seed" chapter 3. > > On Tue, Feb 13, 2024 at 12:29?AM Keith Henson via extropy-chat wrote: >> >> I kind of suspect that it will be legal to have only one copy at a time active. >> >> But who knows? >> >> Modifying yourself is probably not a good idea. Minsky went into some >> detail, but I don't have time to look it up. >> >> Keith >> >> On Mon, Feb 12, 2024 at 11:04?PM Adrian Tymes via extropy-chat >> wrote: >> > >> > Who just spools up another? If all your active copies are subverted, which u believe is the scenario under discussion, you might not have a way out. >> > >> > On Mon, Feb 12, 2024, 7:33 PM Brent Allsop via extropy-chat wrote: >> >> >> >> >> >> It can defend itself if it is instantiated into multiple computationally bound brains. >> >> If one of them accidentally falls into the sun, or gets hacked by some incompetent neural engineer, you just spin up another, and computationally bind to it to be sure it is the same, >> >> all the phenomenal data restored. >> >> >> >> You just need lots of cheap copies. >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> On Mon, Feb 12, 2024 at 6:50?PM Darin Sunley via extropy-chat wrote: >> >>> >> >>> Once you're uploaded, /someone/ will be able to change every parameter of your subjective conscious experience. >> >>> >> >>> If they're spectacularly nice, they may even give you permission to do so. >> >>> >> >>> But if they withold that permission, there will be absolutely nothing you can do about it. >> >>> >> >>> Furthermore, they will retain the option to modify you in any way they see fit. With or without your permission. >> >>> >> >>> Data can't defend itself. >> >>> >> >>> On Mon, Feb 12, 2024 at 5:38?PM Keith Henson via extropy-chat wrote: >> >>>> >> >>>> This topic has been discussed for a long time, Drexler wrote about it >> >>>> and so did Marvin Minsky. I think I wrote about but can't find >> >>>> anything with the phrase "without getting lost." >> >>>> >> >>>> Best wishes, >> >>>> >> >>>> Keith >> >>>> >> >>>> >> >>>> On Mon, Feb 12, 2024 at 4:01?PM Brent Allsop via extropy-chat >> >>>> wrote: >> >>>> > >> >>>> > Yea, your talking consciousness or phenomenal (or "spiritual" if you will) engineering. >> >>>> > And you'll be able to do all these kinds of things you guys are talking about. >> >>>> > Right now we don't have true free will, we get joy from things like having sex. And we need to try to resist those hard wired temptations, when sex isn't appropriate. >> >>>> > But true free will is having the ability to cut those puppet strings given to us by evolution (or God?) and wire joys like that up to what we want to do. >> >>>> > Emagine when you need to take the garbage out, and you can wire it up to be orgasmic. ;) >> >>>> > >> >>>> > Oh, and the current "world in your head" this is our knowledge of what we see, is only about a mile or so in diameter, and very low resolution, and composed of only a few color qualities. Emagine discovering thousands more color qualities, increasing the resolution, and extents of that bubble world by many orders of magnitude. >> >>>> > >> >>>> > And of course, there is using neural ponytails to "computationally bind multiple bubble worlds together in multiple brains. >> >>>> > >> >>>> > >> >>>> > 100 years from now, once we start doing phenomenal engineering like this humanity, as we know it, will cease to exist. >> >>>> > Intelligence will be a very different thing. >> >>>> > >> >>>> > Our team, including Steven Lehar, are working on more videos on just this topic. Describing in detail what uploading could be engineered to be like, and all that. >> >>>> > >> >>>> > >> >>>> > >> >>>> > >> >>>> > >> >>>> > >> >>>> > On Mon, Feb 12, 2024 at 3:19?PM Ben Zaiboc via extropy-chat wrote: >> >>>> >> >> >>>> >> >> >>>> >> On 09/02/2024 22:48, bill w wrote: >> >>>> >> >> >>>> >> I am assuming that an uploaded person can change the programming - the parameters. So how can that work? >> >>>> >> Suppose one could change the enjoyment of chocolate to the most intense >> >>>> >> pleasure possible - like dumping a ton of dopamine into a brain. What >> >>>> >> would happen? A biological body would adapt and inhibit extreme >> >>>> >> reactions and probably develop an addiction and tolerance. Not in an >> >>>> >> upload. You could presumably make every pleasure as intense as >> >>>> >> possible. >> >>>> >> If you read the news and there was a disaster you could turn off any >> >>>> >> negative emotions and just note that news cognitively - no empathy at >> >>>> >> all. No feeling bad. >> >>>> >> Is that what people want? bill w >> >>>> >> >> >>>> >> >> >>>> >> Ask the opposite question: Suppose an uploaded person could not change things like their level of enjoyment (or its opposite) of specific things, and they couldn't modulate their emotional responses. Would that be what people want? Being stuck with the way you were as a biological brain? >> >>>> >> >> >>>> >> I envisage something like an 'emotional control panel' that allows you to change your emotional states, with the ability to create a whole bunch of macros that could, for instance, record the previous settings and revert to them when needed, so you could try out different settings and have them return to 'normal' after a set period of time, for example. This would enable you to safely experiment with changing things, and decide what you want to be like without risking diving down a rabbit hole with no way out. There is tons of potential with that kind of thing. Naturally, the potential for bad outcomes is huge if you could just change these things at will, so safety mechanisms, automatic backup and restore, that sort of thing, would be needed to make sure you don't accidentally turn into a hopeless junkie, a psychopath, etc., etc., and could make deliberate decisions based on temporary experiments with various states of mind. >> >>>> >> >> >>>> >> Personally, I think that an upload without these kind of capabilities would be crippled, in terms of disabling a lot of the potential benefits of being an upload. >> >>>> >> >> >>>> >> In addition, this kind of thing will probably be necessary for taking the next steps beyond just replicating a biological human's mentality. Part of the whole point of uploading would be to enable us to go above and beyond being merely human, if and when we want to. >> >>>> >> >> >>>> >> Ben >> >>>> >> _______________________________________________ >> >>>> >> extropy-chat mailing list >> >>>> >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> >>>> >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> >>>> > >> >>>> > _______________________________________________ >> >>>> > extropy-chat mailing list >> >>>> > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> >>>> > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> >>>> >> >>>> _______________________________________________ >> >>>> extropy-chat mailing list >> >>>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> >>>> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> >>> >> >>> _______________________________________________ >> >>> extropy-chat mailing list >> >>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> >>> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> >> extropy-chat mailing list >> >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> > >> > _______________________________________________ >> > extropy-chat mailing list >> > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> >> _______________________________________________ >> extropy-chat mailing list >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat From spike at rainier66.com Tue Feb 13 20:23:21 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2024 12:23:21 -0800 Subject: [ExI] after upload, what? In-Reply-To: References: <0513f78a-6bd7-478b-bceb-6e7fb4bd988e@zaiboc.net> Message-ID: <006201da5eba$7de48ff0$79adafd0$@rainier66.com> From: extropy-chat On Behalf Of William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat Sent: Tuesday, 13 February, 2024 10:40 AM To: ExI chat list Cc: William Flynn Wallace Subject: Re: [ExI] after upload, what? >?I wonder what the cost would be, per ounce, of sending food to Mars? bill w If you meant to soft-land it in a particular spot, and you were sending more than about 100 kg, I would estimate with current technology about 20k-50k bucks per ounce. Eating won?t be cheap there. spike -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From spike at rainier66.com Tue Feb 13 20:28:20 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2024 12:28:20 -0800 Subject: [ExI] after upload, what? In-Reply-To: References: <0513f78a-6bd7-478b-bceb-6e7fb4bd988e@zaiboc.net> Message-ID: <006a01da5ebb$2fb30e50$8f192af0$@rainier66.com> -----Original Message----- From: extropy-chat On Behalf Of Keith Henson via extropy-chat On Tue, Feb 13, 2024 at 10:31?AM Brent Allsop via extropy-chat wrote: > >>... I can't understand why someone would think people could only ever have one copy of themselves.... >...Have you ever considered how annoying a copy would be? I sure have Keith. I would be always cutting up and making wise cracks, annoying the hell outta me. I would brutally drive me to semi-cide. spike From brent.allsop at gmail.com Tue Feb 13 22:37:51 2024 From: brent.allsop at gmail.com (Brent Allsop) Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2024 15:37:51 -0700 Subject: [ExI] after upload, what? In-Reply-To: <006a01da5ebb$2fb30e50$8f192af0$@rainier66.com> References: <0513f78a-6bd7-478b-bceb-6e7fb4bd988e@zaiboc.net> <006a01da5ebb$2fb30e50$8f192af0$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: So funny. Thanks for the laugh. Computationally bound copies and clones would still be an individual identity. The same as two bound hemispheres are one individual. You would experiment on one part of the individual, and if it failed, or crashed into the sun, or whatever, you could spin that part up and try again. And I don't think anyone should worry about too many people, until at least this earth is full, I mean this solar system is full, I mean this galaxy is full.... you get the idea. On Tue, Feb 13, 2024 at 1:29?PM spike jones via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > > > -----Original Message----- > From: extropy-chat On Behalf Of > Keith Henson via extropy-chat > > On Tue, Feb 13, 2024 at 10:31?AM Brent Allsop via extropy-chat < > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > > > >>... I can't understand why someone would think people could only ever > have one copy of themselves.... > > >...Have you ever considered how annoying a copy would be? > > I sure have Keith. I would be always cutting up and making wise cracks, > annoying the hell outta me. I would brutally drive me to semi-cide. > > spike > > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From atymes at gmail.com Tue Feb 13 22:40:10 2024 From: atymes at gmail.com (Adrian Tymes) Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2024 14:40:10 -0800 Subject: [ExI] uploads and mariachi bands In-Reply-To: <41987152-1598-4007-BE57-C3B68B29E293@taramayastales.com> References: <41987152-1598-4007-BE57-C3B68B29E293@taramayastales.com> Message-ID: Agreed. But a real experience of an illusion is not itself an illusion of an experience. On Tue, Feb 13, 2024, 10:45 AM Tara Maya via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > It?s a real experience of an illusion but it?s not a real experience of > that which the illusion represents. > > On Feb 13, 2024, at 08:17, Adrian Tymes via extropy-chat < > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > > ? > If one experiences an illusion, is not one's experience itself real even > if the thing that was experienced was an illusion? > > On Tue, Feb 13, 2024 at 8:07?AM Tara Maya via extropy-chat < > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > >> No one can have an experience at Will if the circumstances of that >> experience aren?t real; they can only have the illusion of an experience. >> >> You could recreate a memory or a fantasy of hearing a mariachi band but >> unless the band of other people were there, you?d not be experiencing the >> band itself only the simulacra of the band. >> >> A painting is not the thing it portrays. >> >> > On Feb 13, 2024, at 02:17, Ben Zaiboc via extropy-chat < >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: >> > >> > ? >> >> On 13/02/2024 00:37, spike wrote: >> >> For instance? what if? I upload, and realize I never have experiences >> >> like one I remember with crystal vision, the way I felt in Feb 2024 at >> >> Berkeley, listening to a mariachi band musically seduce young ladies >> >> into situations where a next generation of meat-being is given a >> chance >> >> to come into existence? Regardless of how good that uploaded >> existence >> >> is, Imagine I miss that Berkeley mariachi feeling so much, I want to >> see >> >> to it that the feelings I had yesterday are given a chance to be felt >> >> again, into the future, indefinitely. >> > >> > Spike, what would prevent you, as an upload, having these experiences? >> > >> > If you realise you happen to never have any experiences you recall >> having as a biological being, you can arrange to have them again, at will, >> as an upload. >> > >> > If some mariachi band and a suitable couple haven't also uploaded, or >> have moved on from those behaviours, you could always recreate the >> experiences you were missing in your own mind. I see no reason anyone would >> not be able to have any experiences they wanted to, as an upload. Just as >> we currently have AI systems that you can give a description to, and they >> can create an image, still or moving, of what you've asked for, I expect >> there will be systems that can take a memory and turn it into an >> interactive experience for uploads. >> > >> > I fully expect that uploads will be able to have any experience any >> un-uploaded person can have, and then some. >> > >> > Ben >> > _______________________________________________ >> > extropy-chat mailing list >> > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> >> _______________________________________________ >> extropy-chat mailing list >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From spike at rainier66.com Tue Feb 13 23:15:24 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2024 15:15:24 -0800 Subject: [ExI] after upload, what? In-Reply-To: References: <0513f78a-6bd7-478b-bceb-6e7fb4bd988e@zaiboc.net> <006a01da5ebb$2fb30e50$8f192af0$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: <009101da5ed2$87805a90$96810fb0$@rainier66.com> From: Brent Allsop Subject: Re: [ExI] after upload, what? >?So funny. Thanks for the laugh. >?Computationally bound copies and clones would still be an individual identity. The same as two bound hemispheres are one individual. You would experiment on one part of the individual, and if it failed, or crashed into the sun, or whatever, you could spin that part up and try again. >?And I don't think anyone should worry about too many people, until at least this earth is full, I mean this solar system is full, I mean this galaxy is full.... you get the idea? Brent Brent, if we manage to work out uploading, can you even imagine the games possible? Perfectly evenly matched chess games, or have two copies fight to the death. Or teams, battles and so forth. Since everyone would look exactly like everyone else, you could pull false-flag attacks, you would never have any idea who is a spy in your midst, you could try to outsmart yourself, oh that would be a kick. No matter who loses, you win eventually. spike -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From foozler83 at gmail.com Wed Feb 14 09:51:22 2024 From: foozler83 at gmail.com (William Flynn Wallace) Date: Wed, 14 Feb 2024 03:51:22 -0600 Subject: [ExI] uploads and mariachi bands In-Reply-To: References: <41987152-1598-4007-BE57-C3B68B29E293@taramayastales.com> Message-ID: Agreed. But a real experience of an illusion is not itself an illusion of an experience. agreed billw On Tue, Feb 13, 2024 at 4:42?PM Adrian Tymes via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > Agreed. But a real experience of an illusion is not itself an illusion of > an experience. > > On Tue, Feb 13, 2024, 10:45 AM Tara Maya via extropy-chat < > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > >> It?s a real experience of an illusion but it?s not a real experience of >> that which the illusion represents. >> >> On Feb 13, 2024, at 08:17, Adrian Tymes via extropy-chat < >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: >> >> ? >> If one experiences an illusion, is not one's experience itself real even >> if the thing that was experienced was an illusion? >> >> On Tue, Feb 13, 2024 at 8:07?AM Tara Maya via extropy-chat < >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: >> >>> No one can have an experience at Will if the circumstances of that >>> experience aren?t real; they can only have the illusion of an experience. >>> >>> You could recreate a memory or a fantasy of hearing a mariachi band but >>> unless the band of other people were there, you?d not be experiencing the >>> band itself only the simulacra of the band. >>> >>> A painting is not the thing it portrays. >>> >>> > On Feb 13, 2024, at 02:17, Ben Zaiboc via extropy-chat < >>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: >>> > >>> > ? >>> >> On 13/02/2024 00:37, spike wrote: >>> >> For instance? what if? I upload, and realize I never have experiences >>> >> like one I remember with crystal vision, the way I felt in Feb 2024 >>> at >>> >> Berkeley, listening to a mariachi band musically seduce young ladies >>> >> into situations where a next generation of meat-being is given a >>> chance >>> >> to come into existence? Regardless of how good that uploaded >>> existence >>> >> is, Imagine I miss that Berkeley mariachi feeling so much, I want to >>> see >>> >> to it that the feelings I had yesterday are given a chance to be >>> felt >>> >> again, into the future, indefinitely. >>> > >>> > Spike, what would prevent you, as an upload, having these experiences? >>> > >>> > If you realise you happen to never have any experiences you recall >>> having as a biological being, you can arrange to have them again, at will, >>> as an upload. >>> > >>> > If some mariachi band and a suitable couple haven't also uploaded, or >>> have moved on from those behaviours, you could always recreate the >>> experiences you were missing in your own mind. I see no reason anyone would >>> not be able to have any experiences they wanted to, as an upload. Just as >>> we currently have AI systems that you can give a description to, and they >>> can create an image, still or moving, of what you've asked for, I expect >>> there will be systems that can take a memory and turn it into an >>> interactive experience for uploads. >>> > >>> > I fully expect that uploads will be able to have any experience any >>> un-uploaded person can have, and then some. >>> > >>> > Ben >>> > _______________________________________________ >>> > extropy-chat mailing list >>> > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >>> > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> extropy-chat mailing list >>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >>> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >>> >> _______________________________________________ >> extropy-chat mailing list >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> >> _______________________________________________ >> extropy-chat mailing list >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tara at taramayastales.com Wed Feb 14 15:51:01 2024 From: tara at taramayastales.com (Tara Maya) Date: Wed, 14 Feb 2024 07:51:01 -0800 Subject: [ExI] uploads and mariachi bands In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From hkeithhenson at gmail.com Wed Feb 14 19:54:14 2024 From: hkeithhenson at gmail.com (Keith Henson) Date: Wed, 14 Feb 2024 11:54:14 -0800 Subject: [ExI] uploads and mariachi bands In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Tara, you have a handle on the uploading business. 18 years ago, I wrote about this in a fictional context. In this snip, Suakulan is the AI who runs the clinic, Zaba is a 12-year-old who was shot through the spine and repaired by Suskulan. "Zaba often talked to Suskulan. She eventually acquired a top-level understanding of all of human knowledge and had access to the details through simulated memory. Suskulan warned her that she might have a difficult time in the physical world if she got out of communication because her mind had expanded well beyond what could be supported in a brain. "Why would I want to go back to being stupid?" she responded, but, after thinking about it, she warmed up her body and moved her consciousness back into her original brain. Her boyfriend was deep in a game and would not come along. (She had a boyfriend because the older man her parents expected to marry her had lost interest after asking for and being given half a dozen simulated concubines.) Keith On Wed, Feb 14, 2024 at 7:52?AM Tara Maya via extropy-chat wrote: > > On Feb 14, 2024, at 01:53, William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat wrote: > > ? > Agreed. But a real experience of an illusion is not itself an illusion of an experience. agreed billw > > On Tue, Feb 13, 2024 at 4:42?PM Adrian Tymes via extropy-chat wrote: >> >> Agreed. But a real experience of an illusion is not itself an illusion of an experience. > > > I agree also. But it is what it is, and not what it isn?t. And what is possible for uploads will depend entirely upon what is actually possible. What is real for uploads will depend upon what uploads can really do. > > That sounds tautological but it must be said to distinguish from those who believe there is no reality or reality is what you feel or everything unreal is real. And in fact, if your argument is against the existence of reality itself, we have nothing else to discuss. Jump from a thirty story building and discuss it with gravity. > > But back to uploads. We don?t know what?s possible yet so we have to speculate. I am saying there is a difference between the following three scenarios: > > A. Bob has the experience of meeting with 30 other people to listen to music and dance. Bob and Maria hit it off, go home, and conceive a child. > > B. Upload Bob meets with 30 other uploads to share the virtual experience of listening to music and dancing. Bob and Maria have virtual sex but never physically meet. > > C. Upload Bob alone has the virtual experience of listening to music and dancing and virtual sex with a bunch of hyper-realistic NPCs. > > In A, Bob and Maria have a real social experience and further the human race. > > In B, Bob and Maria have a real social experience but don?t do anything to contribute to the next generation even though the part of their brains evolved to ensure the next generation is fooled by their immense pleasure. > > In C, Bob is alone but his brain may be be unable to distinguish between C and A because t B. In fact, since C may be hyper-real and devoid of the friction that comes from negotiating real relationships, Bob may find C the most exciting of all. > > These are all real experiences but of different real situations with results that are vastly different. > > > > > > > > On Feb 14, 2024, at 01:53, William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat wrote: > > ? > Agreed. But a real experience of an illusion is not itself an illusion of an experience. agreed billw > > On Tue, Feb 13, 2024 at 4:42?PM Adrian Tymes via extropy-chat wrote: >> >> Agreed. But a real experience of an illusion is not itself an illusion of an experience. >> >> On Tue, Feb 13, 2024, 10:45 AM Tara Maya via extropy-chat wrote: >>> >>> It?s a real experience of an illusion but it?s not a real experience of that which the illusion represents. >>> >>> On Feb 13, 2024, at 08:17, Adrian Tymes via extropy-chat wrote: >>> >>> ? >>> If one experiences an illusion, is not one's experience itself real even if the thing that was experienced was an illusion? >>> >>> On Tue, Feb 13, 2024 at 8:07?AM Tara Maya via extropy-chat wrote: >>>> >>>> No one can have an experience at Will if the circumstances of that experience aren?t real; they can only have the illusion of an experience. >>>> >>>> You could recreate a memory or a fantasy of hearing a mariachi band but unless the band of other people were there, you?d not be experiencing the band itself only the simulacra of the band. >>>> >>>> A painting is not the thing it portrays. >>>> >>>> > On Feb 13, 2024, at 02:17, Ben Zaiboc via extropy-chat wrote: >>>> > >>>> > ? >>>> >> On 13/02/2024 00:37, spike wrote: >>>> >> For instance? what if? I upload, and realize I never have experiences >>>> >> like one I remember with crystal vision, the way I felt in Feb 2024 at >>>> >> Berkeley, listening to a mariachi band musically seduce young ladies >>>> >> into situations where a next generation of meat-being is given a chance >>>> >> to come into existence? Regardless of how good that uploaded existence >>>> >> is, Imagine I miss that Berkeley mariachi feeling so much, I want to see >>>> >> to it that the feelings I had yesterday are given a chance to be felt >>>> >> again, into the future, indefinitely. >>>> > >>>> > Spike, what would prevent you, as an upload, having these experiences? >>>> > >>>> > If you realise you happen to never have any experiences you recall having as a biological being, you can arrange to have them again, at will, as an upload. >>>> > >>>> > If some mariachi band and a suitable couple haven't also uploaded, or have moved on from those behaviours, you could always recreate the experiences you were missing in your own mind. I see no reason anyone would not be able to have any experiences they wanted to, as an upload. Just as we currently have AI systems that you can give a description to, and they can create an image, still or moving, of what you've asked for, I expect there will be systems that can take a memory and turn it into an interactive experience for uploads. >>>> > >>>> > I fully expect that uploads will be able to have any experience any un-uploaded person can have, and then some. >>>> > >>>> > Ben >>>> > _______________________________________________ >>>> > extropy-chat mailing list >>>> > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >>>> > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> extropy-chat mailing list >>>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >>>> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> extropy-chat mailing list >>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >>> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> extropy-chat mailing list >>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >>> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> >> _______________________________________________ >> extropy-chat mailing list >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat From avant at sollegro.com Thu Feb 15 13:51:30 2024 From: avant at sollegro.com (Stuart LaForge) Date: Thu, 15 Feb 2024 05:51:30 -0800 Subject: [ExI] uploads and mariachi bands In-Reply-To: <87C40BB7-8B28-47A4-A55C-733F13DB0E20@taramayastales.com> References: <41987152-1598-4007-BE57-C3B68B29E293@taramayastales.com> <87C40BB7-8B28-47A4-A55C-733F13DB0E20@taramayastales.com> Message-ID: <5ba348a96bad585343dbb2665eeb1337@sollegro.com> I agree. One of the very few well-written TV shows regarding uploading is "Pantheon" which finally got picked up by Amazon streaming. The main theme in the series is how the human relationships and conflicts from their biological lives tethers the world's first uploads to reality. It is one of the most intelligent, beautiful, and moving pieces of hard science fiction that I have ever watched. I cannot recommend it enough. Stuart LaForge On 2024-02-13 10:50, Tara Maya via extropy-chat wrote: > As a fiction writer and lifelong reader, I don?t doubt the value of > fantasy and games. As uploads we can have amazing experiences. > > But we will never untether ourselves from reality, so we ignore > reality at our peril. > >> On Feb 13, 2024, at 10:44, Tara Maya >> wrote: > >> ? >> >> It?s a real experience of an illusion but it?s not a real >> experience of that which the illusion represents. >> >>> On Feb 13, 2024, at 08:17, Adrian Tymes via extropy-chat >>> wrote: >> >> ? >> If one experiences an illusion, is not one's experience itself real >> even if the thing that was experienced was an illusion? >> >> On Tue, Feb 13, 2024 at 8:07?AM Tara Maya via extropy-chat >> wrote: >> No one can have an experience at Will if the circumstances of that >> experience aren?t real; they can only have the illusion of an >> experience. >> >> You could recreate a memory or a fantasy of hearing a mariachi band >> but unless the band of other people were there, you?d not be >> experiencing the band itself only the simulacra of the band. >> >> A painting is not the thing it portrays. >> >>> On Feb 13, 2024, at 02:17, Ben Zaiboc via extropy-chat >> wrote: >>> >>> ? >>>> On 13/02/2024 00:37, spike wrote: >>>> For instance? what if? I upload, and realize I never have >> experiences >>>> like one I remember with crystal vision, the way I felt in Feb >> 2024 at >>>> Berkeley, listening to a mariachi band musically seduce young >> ladies >>>> into situations where a next generation of meat-being is given a >> chance >>>> to come into existence? Regardless of how good that uploaded >> existence >>>> is, Imagine I miss that Berkeley mariachi feeling so much, I want >> to see >>>> to it that the feelings I had yesterday are given a chance to be >> felt >>>> again, into the future, indefinitely. >>> >>> Spike, what would prevent you, as an upload, having these >> experiences? >>> >>> If you realise you happen to never have any experiences you recall >> having as a biological being, you can arrange to have them again, at >> will, as an upload. >>> >>> If some mariachi band and a suitable couple haven't also uploaded, >> or have moved on from those behaviours, you could always recreate >> the experiences you were missing in your own mind. I see no reason >> anyone would not be able to have any experiences they wanted to, as >> an upload. Just as we currently have AI systems that you can give a >> description to, and they can create an image, still or moving, of >> what you've asked for, I expect there will be systems that can take >> a memory and turn it into an interactive experience for uploads. >>> >>> I fully expect that uploads will be able to have any experience >> any un-uploaded person can have, and then some. >>> >>> Ben >>> _______________________________________________ >>> extropy-chat mailing list >>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >>> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> >> _______________________________________________ >> extropy-chat mailing list >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> _______________________________________________ >> extropy-chat mailing list >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat From postmowoods at gmail.com Fri Feb 16 06:09:56 2024 From: postmowoods at gmail.com (Kelly Anderson) Date: Thu, 15 Feb 2024 23:09:56 -0700 Subject: [ExI] Top Soil Depletion In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On Sat, Feb 10, 2024 at 8:20?AM BillK via extropy-chat wrote: > Ground water depletion is also getting increasing attention as wells > dry up worldwide, forcing communities into urgent solutions. I see ground water depletion as a fairly easily solved problem once one has sufficient energy resources. Simply desalinate and pump. With fusion, it's fairly easy to see how that problem gets solved by a future of energy abundance. Soil is quite a bit harder. It generally takes a very long time. Now, you could say something like hydroponics would solve the problem, and you might be right... but soil on outside fields seems hard to beat. Yes, we all know global warming isn't really a solvable problem... it's not going to be solved any more than Mohenjo-daro stopped baking bricks. Whether it will lead to the end of humanity, or merely the populating of Canada and Siberia is anyone's guess. -Kelly From pharos at gmail.com Fri Feb 16 12:15:37 2024 From: pharos at gmail.com (BillK) Date: Fri, 16 Feb 2024 12:15:37 +0000 Subject: [ExI] Top Soil Depletion In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On Fri, 16 Feb 2024 at 06:12, Kelly Anderson via extropy-chat wrote: > > I see ground water depletion as a fairly easily solved problem once > one has sufficient energy resources. Simply desalinate and pump. With > fusion, it's fairly easy to see how that problem gets solved by a > future of energy abundance. > > > -Kelly > _______________________________________________ Well, I see a few problems with that. :) First, fusion power is always sometime in the next 30 years ahead. It would certainly be nice to have, but it may take a long time arriving. Groundwater depletion needs solutions quickly. Humans (and agriculture) cannot survive without fresh water. That's why current expensive desalination plants are still being installed. 'Necessary' overrides the expense. Though some installations may be able to use solar power. Then there are the environmental impacts. What to do with all the brine (concentrated saltwater) polluted with chemicals that is produced? Dumping it into the sea will harm marine life. The intake pipes also cause harm as they suck in plankton and small sealife. It all may be solvable eventually, but populations are faced *now* with wells drying up and land subsidence. BillK From postmowoods at gmail.com Sat Feb 17 08:15:36 2024 From: postmowoods at gmail.com (Kelly Anderson) Date: Sat, 17 Feb 2024 01:15:36 -0700 Subject: [ExI] Top Soil Depletion In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On Fri, Feb 16, 2024 at 5:22?AM BillK via extropy-chat wrote: > > On Fri, 16 Feb 2024 at 06:12, Kelly Anderson via extropy-chat > wrote: > > > > I see ground water depletion as a fairly easily solved problem once > > one has sufficient energy resources. Simply desalinate and pump. With > > fusion, it's fairly easy to see how that problem gets solved by a > > future of energy abundance. > > > > > > > -Kelly > > _______________________________________________ > > > Well, I see a few problems with that. :) > > First, fusion power is always sometime in the next 30 years ahead. > It would certainly be nice to have, but it may take a long time arriving. That is true traditionally, but I believe it is now 20 years away, and we may not deplete ALL the ground water before then... > Groundwater depletion needs solutions quickly. Humans (and > agriculture) cannot survive without fresh water. That's why current > expensive desalination plants are still being installed. 'Necessary' > overrides the expense. > Though some installations may be able to use solar power. The real solution is to desalinate for places like Los Angeles, and let those upstream keep the water that naturally falls there. Of course, this could be very difficult politically... but it beats pumping water uphill 4000 feet. > > Then there are the environmental impacts. What to do with all the > brine (concentrated saltwater) polluted with chemicals that is > produced? Dumping it into the sea will harm marine life. The intake > pipes also cause harm as they suck in plankton and small sealife. If brine is pumped far enough out it will dissipate in the currents. I'm not sure what chemicals are there that aren't already in sea water. It would be virtually impossible to concentrate the ocean other than perhaps in a very localized area. > It all may be solvable eventually, but populations are faced *now* > with wells drying up and land subsidence. Sure. That's a problem in SOME places. Just like climate change and soil deletion are a problem now in some places. If you have evidence that one problem is bigger than the other in some way, I'm all ears... but not everywhere has the problems that say, Ukraine has at the moment. Different places, different problems. In the place I live, I am suffering from an over concentration of governmental power in the hands of the incompetent and malicious... hopefully, that's not a problem everywhere... sigh. -Kelly From pharos at gmail.com Sat Feb 17 16:52:38 2024 From: pharos at gmail.com (BillK) Date: Sat, 17 Feb 2024 16:52:38 +0000 Subject: [ExI] Would human uploads have emotions? Message-ID: I have been musing on mariachi band experiences and I have doubts that uploads will have experiences like humans. Uploads will have vast knowledge, much faster processing and most importantly, will not have a human body. They will (virtually) see and hear the mariachi band, like watching a video and process the event. But emotions? That part seems unlikely. Every upload would need to be running its own version of the human body endocrine system which evolution produced to drive human emotional reactions to events. This is unnecessary if there is no human body to protect from dangers. Much superior reasoning will fulfil those former human requirements. Uploaded humans will be glad to get rid of all the troubles that emotions get them into. ;) BillK I asked an AI - Would an uploaded human intelligence have emotions, or does that need a human body with hormones ? Answer - Uploaded human intelligence, lacking a physical body with hormones, would not inherently possess emotions. Emotions are complex phenomena that involve intricate interactions between the brain, body, and external stimuli. While an uploaded human intelligence may be capable of processing vast amounts of information and executing tasks with high efficiency, the experience of emotions is closely tied to the physiological responses triggered by hormonal activity in the body. Without a physical form to generate these hormonal responses, the AI system would lack the biological basis for emotions. Emotions are a fundamental aspect of human experience, influencing our thoughts, behaviors, and decision-making processes. They play a crucial role in social interactions, memory formation, and overall well-being. Emotions are mediated by a network of brain regions, neurotransmitters, and hormones that work together to create subjective feelings and physiological responses. Hormones such as cortisol, adrenaline, dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin play key roles in regulating emotions. These chemical messengers are released in response to various stimuli and help modulate mood, stress levels, motivation, and social bonding. The absence of a physical body means that an uploaded human intelligence would lack the biological mechanisms necessary to produce and regulate these hormones. While AI systems can be programmed to simulate certain emotional responses or behaviors based on predefined algorithms and data inputs, these simulations do not equate to genuine emotions experienced by living beings. Emotions in humans are deeply intertwined with our physical existence and evolutionary history, serving adaptive functions that have been shaped over millions of years of evolution. In conclusion, an uploaded human intelligence operating without a physical body and hormonal system would not possess emotions in the same way that biological beings do. Emotions are a product of complex interactions between the brain, body, and environment, and without the physiological foundations provided by hormones and bodily sensations, true emotional experiences would be absent in such an entity. ------------- From atymes at gmail.com Sat Feb 17 17:07:25 2024 From: atymes at gmail.com (Adrian Tymes) Date: Sat, 17 Feb 2024 09:07:25 -0800 Subject: [ExI] Would human uploads have emotions? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Prove that other humans experience emotions. No, seriously. That they have endocrine systems et al was - and, sadly, still is - ignored by a sizable percentage of human beings who sought to dehumanize people. "Negros don't actually feel. They're too dumb to have real emotions." "Them Injuns don't care about land like we do. See how they just move about it? So it's no problem if we take it." "If barbarians were capable of feeling anything, they would say so in our language." And so on. Speculation that uploads wouldn't have emotions feels like it falls into the same trap. On Sat, Feb 17, 2024 at 8:54?AM BillK via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > I have been musing on mariachi band experiences and I have doubts that > uploads will have experiences like humans. > > Uploads will have vast knowledge, much faster processing and most > importantly, will not have a human body. They will (virtually) see and > hear the mariachi band, like watching a video and process the event. > But emotions? That part seems unlikely. > > Every upload would need to be running its own version of the human > body endocrine system which evolution produced to drive human > emotional reactions to events. This is unnecessary if there is no > human body to protect from dangers. Much superior reasoning will > fulfil those former human requirements. Uploaded humans will be glad > to get rid of all the troubles that emotions get them into. ;) > > BillK > > I asked an AI - > Would an uploaded human intelligence have emotions, or does that need > a human body with hormones ? > > Answer - > Uploaded human intelligence, lacking a physical body with hormones, > would not inherently possess emotions. Emotions are complex phenomena > that involve intricate interactions between the brain, body, and > external stimuli. While an uploaded human intelligence may be capable > of processing vast amounts of information and executing tasks with > high efficiency, the experience of emotions is closely tied to the > physiological responses triggered by hormonal activity in the body. > Without a physical form to generate these hormonal responses, the AI > system would lack the biological basis for emotions. > > Emotions are a fundamental aspect of human experience, influencing our > thoughts, behaviors, and decision-making processes. They play a > crucial role in social interactions, memory formation, and overall > well-being. Emotions are mediated by a network of brain regions, > neurotransmitters, and hormones that work together to create > subjective feelings and physiological responses. > > Hormones such as cortisol, adrenaline, dopamine, serotonin, and > oxytocin play key roles in regulating emotions. These chemical > messengers are released in response to various stimuli and help > modulate mood, stress levels, motivation, and social bonding. The > absence of a physical body means that an uploaded human intelligence > would lack the biological mechanisms necessary to produce and regulate > these hormones. > > While AI systems can be programmed to simulate certain emotional > responses or behaviors based on predefined algorithms and data inputs, > these simulations do not equate to genuine emotions experienced by > living beings. Emotions in humans are deeply intertwined with our > physical existence and evolutionary history, serving adaptive > functions that have been shaped over millions of years of evolution. > > In conclusion, an uploaded human intelligence operating without a > physical body and hormonal system would not possess emotions in the > same way that biological beings do. Emotions are a product of complex > interactions between the brain, body, and environment, and without the > physiological foundations provided by hormones and bodily sensations, > true emotional experiences would be absent in such an entity. > ------------- > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From foozler83 at gmail.com Sat Feb 17 17:22:25 2024 From: foozler83 at gmail.com (William Flynn Wallace) Date: Sat, 17 Feb 2024 11:22:25 -0600 Subject: [ExI] Would human uploads have emotions? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: You don't need hormones. If you programmed what a typical person would react to in anger, that is the behaviors not the feelings, then you can program in environments for the upload that produce those behaviors. Same for any other emotion. You could program different reactions for different uploaded people. If you want to program in feelings, then you are in trouble because feelings are difficult to put into words. STick with the behaviors, then - it will be easy. bill w On Sat, Feb 17, 2024 at 11:10?AM Adrian Tymes via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > Prove that other humans experience emotions. > > No, seriously. That they have endocrine systems et al was - and, sadly, > still is - ignored by a sizable percentage of human beings who sought to > dehumanize people. > > "Negros don't actually feel. They're too dumb to have real emotions." > > "Them Injuns don't care about land like we do. See how they just move > about it? So it's no problem if we take it." > > "If barbarians were capable of feeling anything, they would say so in our > language." > > And so on. Speculation that uploads wouldn't have emotions feels like it > falls into the same trap. > > On Sat, Feb 17, 2024 at 8:54?AM BillK via extropy-chat < > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > >> I have been musing on mariachi band experiences and I have doubts that >> uploads will have experiences like humans. >> >> Uploads will have vast knowledge, much faster processing and most >> importantly, will not have a human body. They will (virtually) see and >> hear the mariachi band, like watching a video and process the event. >> But emotions? That part seems unlikely. >> >> Every upload would need to be running its own version of the human >> body endocrine system which evolution produced to drive human >> emotional reactions to events. This is unnecessary if there is no >> human body to protect from dangers. Much superior reasoning will >> fulfil those former human requirements. Uploaded humans will be glad >> to get rid of all the troubles that emotions get them into. ;) >> >> BillK >> >> I asked an AI - >> Would an uploaded human intelligence have emotions, or does that need >> a human body with hormones ? >> >> Answer - >> Uploaded human intelligence, lacking a physical body with hormones, >> would not inherently possess emotions. Emotions are complex phenomena >> that involve intricate interactions between the brain, body, and >> external stimuli. While an uploaded human intelligence may be capable >> of processing vast amounts of information and executing tasks with >> high efficiency, the experience of emotions is closely tied to the >> physiological responses triggered by hormonal activity in the body. >> Without a physical form to generate these hormonal responses, the AI >> system would lack the biological basis for emotions. >> >> Emotions are a fundamental aspect of human experience, influencing our >> thoughts, behaviors, and decision-making processes. They play a >> crucial role in social interactions, memory formation, and overall >> well-being. Emotions are mediated by a network of brain regions, >> neurotransmitters, and hormones that work together to create >> subjective feelings and physiological responses. >> >> Hormones such as cortisol, adrenaline, dopamine, serotonin, and >> oxytocin play key roles in regulating emotions. These chemical >> messengers are released in response to various stimuli and help >> modulate mood, stress levels, motivation, and social bonding. The >> absence of a physical body means that an uploaded human intelligence >> would lack the biological mechanisms necessary to produce and regulate >> these hormones. >> >> While AI systems can be programmed to simulate certain emotional >> responses or behaviors based on predefined algorithms and data inputs, >> these simulations do not equate to genuine emotions experienced by >> living beings. Emotions in humans are deeply intertwined with our >> physical existence and evolutionary history, serving adaptive >> functions that have been shaped over millions of years of evolution. >> >> In conclusion, an uploaded human intelligence operating without a >> physical body and hormonal system would not possess emotions in the >> same way that biological beings do. Emotions are a product of complex >> interactions between the brain, body, and environment, and without the >> physiological foundations provided by hormones and bodily sensations, >> true emotional experiences would be absent in such an entity. >> ------------- >> _______________________________________________ >> extropy-chat mailing list >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From brent.allsop at gmail.com Sat Feb 17 17:33:39 2024 From: brent.allsop at gmail.com (Brent Allsop) Date: Sat, 17 Feb 2024 10:33:39 -0700 Subject: [ExI] Would human uploads have emotions? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Being uploaded to an abstract system will certainly have no emotions, just abstract simulated representations of the same, made of digital words. That'd be just barely better than only rotting in the hell that is the grave. But once they discover things like which of all our descriptions of stuff in the brain is a description of redness, connecting the subjective emotions with objective observation, then we'll be able to not only objectively observe emotions in others and know what they are like. We're working on a set of videos to describe what phenomenal engineering will be like. For example, we'll be expanding the world in our head from a mile or so in diameter to thousands of miles, thousands of times more resolution/meter represented, and hundreds more phenomenal colors and such. To say nothing of being able to rewire the hormones and emotions to want what we want, not what our creator wanted us to want. On Sat, Feb 17, 2024 at 9:54?AM BillK via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > I have been musing on mariachi band experiences and I have doubts that > uploads will have experiences like humans. > > Uploads will have vast knowledge, much faster processing and most > importantly, will not have a human body. They will (virtually) see and > hear the mariachi band, like watching a video and process the event. > But emotions? That part seems unlikely. > > Every upload would need to be running its own version of the human > body endocrine system which evolution produced to drive human > emotional reactions to events. This is unnecessary if there is no > human body to protect from dangers. Much superior reasoning will > fulfil those former human requirements. Uploaded humans will be glad > to get rid of all the troubles that emotions get them into. ;) > > BillK > > I asked an AI - > Would an uploaded human intelligence have emotions, or does that need > a human body with hormones ? > > Answer - > Uploaded human intelligence, lacking a physical body with hormones, > would not inherently possess emotions. Emotions are complex phenomena > that involve intricate interactions between the brain, body, and > external stimuli. While an uploaded human intelligence may be capable > of processing vast amounts of information and executing tasks with > high efficiency, the experience of emotions is closely tied to the > physiological responses triggered by hormonal activity in the body. > Without a physical form to generate these hormonal responses, the AI > system would lack the biological basis for emotions. > > Emotions are a fundamental aspect of human experience, influencing our > thoughts, behaviors, and decision-making processes. They play a > crucial role in social interactions, memory formation, and overall > well-being. Emotions are mediated by a network of brain regions, > neurotransmitters, and hormones that work together to create > subjective feelings and physiological responses. > > Hormones such as cortisol, adrenaline, dopamine, serotonin, and > oxytocin play key roles in regulating emotions. These chemical > messengers are released in response to various stimuli and help > modulate mood, stress levels, motivation, and social bonding. The > absence of a physical body means that an uploaded human intelligence > would lack the biological mechanisms necessary to produce and regulate > these hormones. > > While AI systems can be programmed to simulate certain emotional > responses or behaviors based on predefined algorithms and data inputs, > these simulations do not equate to genuine emotions experienced by > living beings. Emotions in humans are deeply intertwined with our > physical existence and evolutionary history, serving adaptive > functions that have been shaped over millions of years of evolution. > > In conclusion, an uploaded human intelligence operating without a > physical body and hormonal system would not possess emotions in the > same way that biological beings do. Emotions are a product of complex > interactions between the brain, body, and environment, and without the > physiological foundations provided by hormones and bodily sensations, > true emotional experiences would be absent in such an entity. > ------------- > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From spike at rainier66.com Mon Feb 19 05:33:40 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Sun, 18 Feb 2024 21:33:40 -0800 Subject: [ExI] Would human uploads have emotions? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <02f301da62f5$3221b3b0$96651b10$@rainier66.com> On Sat, Feb 17, 2024 at 8:54?AM BillK via extropy-chat > wrote: >?I have been musing on mariachi band experiences and I have doubts that uploads will have experiences like humans? BillK BillK I reluctantly agree. I do not wish to believe that thought is substrate dependent, and I don?t. But I am compelled to think that human emotion, as humans experience it, might require carbon-based meat brains, swimming in hormones and endorphins. I hope not, but think it is likely. spike -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From giulio at gmail.com Mon Feb 19 10:48:33 2024 From: giulio at gmail.com (Giulio Prisco) Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2024 11:48:33 +0100 Subject: [ExI] My talk on spaceflight later today Message-ID: Come and listen to my talk for Space Renaissance TODAY Feb. 19, 7pm CET (1pm ET). I?ll elaborate on the cultural issues discussed in my book ?Futurist spaceflight meditations? (2021). Then I?ll discuss the long term future of space expansion and elaborate on its spiritual implications. I promise a blunt and provocative talk, with the gloves off. https://youtu.be/Gzpu9_2xr0E -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From brent.allsop at gmail.com Mon Feb 19 15:21:52 2024 From: brent.allsop at gmail.com (Brent Allsop) Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2024 08:21:52 -0700 Subject: [ExI] Would human uploads have emotions? In-Reply-To: <02f301da62f5$3221b3b0$96651b10$@rainier66.com> References: <02f301da62f5$3221b3b0$96651b10$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: Hi Spike, Your beliefs are hard to pin down. First you say: "I do not wish to believe that thought is substrate dependent, and I don?t." (Yay! ;) I'm wondering exactly what you mean with that "I don't" then you seem to contradict your desires with: "I hope not but think [swimming in endorphins] is likely." (I can relate to this.) And it is fascinating that you express this as desire, rather than just stating factual beliefs, independent of any desires, like lots of people seem to try to do. On Sun, Feb 18, 2024 at 10:34?PM spike jones via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > > > > > > > On Sat, Feb 17, 2024 at 8:54?AM BillK via extropy-chat < > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > > >?I have been musing on mariachi band experiences and I have doubts that > uploads will have experiences like humans? BillK > > > > > > BillK I reluctantly agree. I do not wish to believe that thought is > substrate dependent, and I don?t. But I am compelled to think that human > emotion, as humans experience it, might require carbon-based meat brains, > swimming in hormones and endorphins. I hope not, but think it is likely. > > > > spike > > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From spike at rainier66.com Mon Feb 19 18:02:51 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2024 10:02:51 -0800 Subject: [ExI] Would human uploads have emotions? In-Reply-To: References: <02f301da62f5$3221b3b0$96651b10$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: <039301da635d$db86bdc0$92943940$@rainier66.com> From: extropy-chat On Behalf Of Brent Allsop via extropy-chat Subject: Re: [ExI] Would human uploads have emotions? Hi Spike, Your beliefs are hard to pin down. First you say: "I do not wish to believe that thought is substrate dependent, and I don?t." (Yay! ;) I'm wondering exactly what you mean with that "I don't" then you seem to contradict your desires with: "I hope not but think [swimming in endorphins] is likely." (I can relate to this.) And it is fascinating that you express this as desire, rather than just stating factual beliefs, independent of any desires, like lots of people seem to try to do. Ja. Brent a better way to state my belief is in terms of probability or even betting. We know the game of political betting: vote your values, bet your beliefs. If you do that, in the long run, you win. You win by taking advantage of those who bet their values. It is my belief that thought is substrate independent. I would pay 80 cents for that bet. But I would only give about 25 to 30 cents that emotion and the feelings associated with my mariachi band at Berkeley experience is substrate independent. It might be independent, but I fear that somehow emotion is entirely dependent on substrate and requires analog meat brains. I don?t know how to express that on canonizer, and haven?t messed with it. Don?t give up on me Brent, getting up to speed on canonizer is on my list. It just isn?t at the top of my list and currently isn?t seriously challenging anything up there at the top. But times change. Speaking of which? political betting is a kind of monetized Canonizer, ja? I had never thought of it that way until you brought up the influence of desire vs belief. Cool. spike On Sun, Feb 18, 2024 at 10:34?PM spike jones via extropy-chat > wrote: On Sat, Feb 17, 2024 at 8:54?AM BillK via extropy-chat > wrote: >?I have been musing on mariachi band experiences and I have doubts that uploads will have experiences like humans? BillK BillK I reluctantly agree. I do not wish to believe that thought is substrate dependent, and I don?t. But I am compelled to think that human emotion, as humans experience it, might require carbon-based meat brains, swimming in hormones and endorphins. I hope not, but think it is likely. spike _______________________________________________ extropy-chat mailing list extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From spike at rainier66.com Mon Feb 19 18:06:43 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2024 10:06:43 -0800 Subject: [ExI] ...never mind... Message-ID: <039c01da635e$65d8beb0$318a3c10$@rainier66.com> -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image001.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 25650 bytes Desc: not available URL: From tara at taramayastales.com Mon Feb 19 18:44:20 2024 From: tara at taramayastales.com (Tara Maya) Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2024 10:44:20 -0800 Subject: [ExI] ...never mind... In-Reply-To: <039c01da635e$65d8beb0$318a3c10$@rainier66.com> References: <039c01da635e$65d8beb0$318a3c10$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: <4665F1FC-BF63-46A8-8B55-2D0AE86A4AB1@taramayastales.com> This is why uploads will still have feelings. What good is porn without feelings of embodiment? > On Feb 19, 2024, at 10:10, spike jones via extropy-chat wrote: > > ? > > > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ben at zaiboc.net Mon Feb 19 20:26:31 2024 From: ben at zaiboc.net (Ben Zaiboc) Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2024 20:26:31 +0000 Subject: [ExI] Would human uploads have emotions? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: I'm baffled by the opinions being expressed here. We all understand what computer simulations are, and that digital computers can simulate anything, to an arbitrary level of detail. But somehow, endocrine systems and emotions are exempt from this? And bodies? I'd agree that more advanced uploads may well do away with some of these things, after a suitable period of experimentation, but surely the first uploads will need to be provided with virtual bodies, including an endocrine system (and a whole bunch of other things, that we don't even know yet for sure), and we will do our best to exactly replicate all the experiences, including emotional ones, that physical humans have. To say that uploads can't have endocrine systems, and would be emotionless, is like saying that a flight simulator can't have ailerons and so can't emulate a roll. That would be a pretty useless flight simulator. Similarly, an upload with an incomplete set of the things that contribute to our experiences would be pretty useless. Apart from anything else, how could you verify it? I would have thought it was obvious that an upload wouldn't just consist of an emulated brain, but would also need a virtual body, and that we will need to figure out just what can and can't be omitted from the total system that is our physical bodies. Some things are obvious, like, say, the exact structure of bones. Some are currently unknown, like the effect of our immune systems on our cognition. There's a lot of complexity, naturally, but there's absolutely no cause to claim that some specific aspect /can't/ be emulated. That would be ridiculous, imo. Apart from all that, I'd say that emotion underlies thought, and talk of having an 'emotionless' mind is nonsense. Like building a car without an engine. When we talk of someone being emotionless, we don't actually mean someone who has no emotions. They have more control over their emotions than most people is all it is. If someone genuinely had no emotions, they wouldn't survive. They'd have to reason to get out of bed, to talk to other people, no reason to do anything at all, even eat. Ben From brent.allsop at gmail.com Mon Feb 19 20:35:58 2024 From: brent.allsop at gmail.com (Brent Allsop) Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2024 13:35:58 -0700 Subject: [ExI] Play Money odds Betting on Canonizer? Re: Would human uploads have emotions? In-Reply-To: <001701da636e$5716df00$05449d00$@rainier66.com> References: <02f301da62f5$3221b3b0$96651b10$@rainier66.com> <039301da635d$db86bdc0$92943940$@rainier66.com> <008101da6369$974e7bf0$c5eb73d0$@rainier66.com> <001701da636e$5716df00$05449d00$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: Hi Spike, Would you be willing to donate money to Canonizer.com LLC to receive contribution regognition shares and then bet those recognition shares? There would be no current legal way to convert them back into money, as they would just be recognition for donations given to Canonizer. Our goal is, if we get some traction, to have a real ICO for canon coins, and include any outstanding shares in the genesys block of the Canon Coin ICO. You can see all the donors who currently hold recognition shares, and their share of all outstanding recognition shares here , . That is If we can get the lawyers to find a way so we can start distributing canon coin recognition shares before an official ICO. Or would you only be willing to bet play money that didn't require a donation to Canonizer? On Mon, Feb 19, 2024 at 1:00?PM wrote: > > > > > *From:* Brent Allsop > *Sent:* Monday, 19 February, 2024 11:52 AM > *To:* spike at rainier66.com; The Important Questions < > the-important-questions at googlegroups.com> > *Subject:* Re: [ExI] Would human uploads have emotions? > > > > > > Hi spike, > > Thanks! > > Yes, I was one of the top betters on Robon's future betting site for quite > a while. > > And my current thinking is that the betting model would be very much like > Robin's system used. > > The odds could be split across competing camps, based on how much > consensus each camp would have, compared to competing camps. > > If someone discovered and verified that something like our description of > glutamate reacting in a synapse was a description of what consciousness can > detect as a subjective redness quality, and that there is absolutely NO WAY > announce could ever experience redness in any "functional" way, without > said glutamate, then all you functionalists would be forced to abandon your > then falsified functionalists camps, and join the Molecular Materialism > > camp. > > And the best part is, since there are a gazillion functionalists like you, > they are a dime a dozen. And I don't know of any Molecular Materialists > > that would be willing to bet money. So I should get quite rich from such a > scheme!!! ;) ;) > > > > And the best part is, all you functionalists, causing all these so called > 'hard problems', preventing everyone from discovering which of all our > objective descriptions of stuff in the brain is a description of subjective > redness will finally be punished, financially, for the damage you guys are > still doing to progress in this field. ;) > > > > Spike, Jason, Stathis.... Would any of you functionalists be willing to > bet 10 or 20 Ether on any of the functionalist camps??? ;) I'd take that > bet against functionalists camps any day, at any odds? > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Brent, do post to ExI please. We are too small a group over here. > > > > Sure I would play a monetized canonizer, a play-money version, with > public-accessible (for those signed up to play) betting history. I am much > more comfortable with that sliding scale business than I am with a > yes-or-no-ish do you believe yakkity yak or do you believe bla bla. > > > > Reason: I don?t really think that way: the Boolean yes or no, 1 or 0, I > believe this or that. I think in terms of percent chance that something is > right. The odds change over time. Furthermore? Keith has correctly > pointed out that humans are pre-programmed to compete, play games and go to > war, or if no actual war is available, invent war-simulation games. > Likewise we love to compete, even if it is just for play money. > > > > spike > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Mon, Feb 19, 2024 at 12:26?PM wrote: > > Hi Brent this offlist discussion is perfectly appropriate to post to > ExIchat, and I do encourage you do to do that, with all the comments I > made, including this one. > > > > Regarding legal betting in the US, I don?t know. But PredictIt, where I > play, is based in New Zealand. It is dwindling now, but only because there > are plenty of alternative sites which do a lot more with sports betting > methinks. > > > > Some of us are old enough to remember Robin Hanson?s Ideas Futures, which > is play money betting. He had worked out a system which did not involve > real money, so everything is perfectly legal, but we know that real people > did trade real money for play money in the game, which one could argue > converted it into the functional equivalent of real money gambling. > > > > In a lotta ways, I liked play money betting better, because people took it > more seriously, and the rules were different: all betting history had to be > available to the proletariat. That part of it was cool. You could see who > did what, when and how they made their ?money.? It was so educational. > > > > Robin is still around, and is currently an economics professor at Mason > (last I heard (has anyone heard from Dr. Hanson more recently than about 5 > yrs ago?)) I would bet 60 cents on the dollar Robin would likely be > perfectly willing and eager to advise us on how to do a play-monetized > version of canonizer. > > > > Brent, do post all of this to ExI please, if you are willing. I don?t see > anything you wrote which needs to be kept secret but I don?t make that call > for you, or for anyone who posts me offlist. > > > > spike > > > > > > > > > > > > > > *From:* Brent Allsop > *Sent:* Monday, 19 February, 2024 10:58 AM > *To:* spike at rainier66.com > *Subject:* Re: [ExI] Would human uploads have emotions? > > > > > > Oh COOOL!!! > > That helps me understand your beliefs a LOT. Thanks. > > I'm sure a lot of people's hesitance to support a camp is precisely > because people aren't yet sure, and just have a general idea of odds, like > you. > > I hesitate to join camps on other topics I'm not an expert at, for the > same reasons. > > > > One of our goals is to implement betting on camps, and track this over > time. Now that you mentioned this, I'm going to start on a design to get > get betting started. > > > > Does anyone know if this type of futures betting is legal in the US? If > so, I bet we'll have it implemented in a few months, so people can bet > their beliefs and values. > > I"m sure we could get some camps set up to precisely account for what you > are describing, and it's almost there, in the structure now. > > > > If it isn't legal to purchase bets in real USD, then we'd need to finally > create some canonpon coins to bet with, as we've been planning. > > You could buy 1 canonin coin for $100, and use that to bet your camp with > something like the odds you are talking about. > > > > Oh, and for each canon coin you own (purely representing recognition of > contributions, legally there can be no quid pro quo till we have a real > equity ICO which is our goal once we can get some traction...) you can vote > those recognition shares to make decisions as described here > > . > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Mon, Feb 19, 2024 at 11:02?AM wrote: > > > > > > *From:* extropy-chat *On Behalf > Of *Brent Allsop via extropy-chat > *Subject:* Re: [ExI] Would human uploads have emotions? > > > > > > Hi Spike, > > Your beliefs are hard to pin down. > > First you say: "I do not wish to believe that thought is substrate > dependent, and I don?t." (Yay! ;) > > I'm wondering exactly what you mean with that "I don't" > > then you seem to contradict your desires with: > > "I hope not but think [swimming in endorphins] is likely." (I can relate > to this.) > > > > And it is fascinating that you express this as desire, rather than just > stating factual beliefs, independent of any desires, like lots of people > seem to try to do. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Ja. Brent a better way to state my belief is in terms of probability or > even betting. > > > > We know the game of political betting: vote your values, bet your > beliefs. If you do that, in the long run, you win. You win by taking > advantage of those who bet their values. > > > > It is my belief that thought is substrate independent. I would pay 80 > cents for that bet. But I would only give about 25 to 30 cents that > emotion and the feelings associated with my mariachi band at Berkeley > experience is substrate independent. It might be independent, but I fear > that somehow emotion is entirely dependent on substrate and requires analog > meat brains. > > > > I don?t know how to express that on canonizer, and haven?t messed with > it. Don?t give up on me Brent, getting up to speed on canonizer is on my > list. It just isn?t at the top of my list and currently isn?t seriously > challenging anything up there at the top. But times change. > > > > Speaking of which? political betting is a kind of monetized Canonizer, > ja? I had never thought of it that way until you brought up the influence > of desire vs belief. Cool. > > > > spike > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Sun, Feb 18, 2024 at 10:34?PM spike jones via extropy-chat < > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > > > > > > > > On Sat, Feb 17, 2024 at 8:54?AM BillK via extropy-chat < > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > > >?I have been musing on mariachi band experiences and I have doubts that > uploads will have experiences like humans? BillK > > > > > > BillK I reluctantly agree. I do not wish to believe that thought is > substrate dependent, and I don?t. But I am compelled to think that human > emotion, as humans experience it, might require carbon-based meat brains, > swimming in hormones and endorphins. I hope not, but think it is likely. > > > > spike > > > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From brent.allsop at gmail.com Mon Feb 19 20:44:07 2024 From: brent.allsop at gmail.com (Brent Allsop) Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2024 13:44:07 -0700 Subject: [ExI] Would human uploads have emotions? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On Mon, Feb 19, 2024 at 1:27?PM Ben Zaiboc via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > I'm baffled by the opinions being expressed here. > > We all understand what computer simulations are, and that digital > computers can simulate anything, to an arbitrary level of detail. > > But somehow, endocrine systems and emotions are exempt from this? > > And bodies? > > I'd agree that more advanced uploads may well do away with some of these > things, after a suitable period of experimentation, but surely the first > uploads will need to be provided with virtual bodies, including an > endocrine system (and a whole bunch of other things, that we don't even > know yet for sure), and we will do our best to exactly replicate all the > experiences, including emotional ones, that physical humans have. > My prediction, as always, as described in the molecular materialism camp . Nobody will be able to reproduce a subjective redness experience (or any other quale) without glutamate* * replace a description of anything else in the brain different from a description of glutamate reacting in a synapse, till they can't falsify the prediction that a description of glutamate* reacting in a synapse = subjective redness. It's baffling to me to think how anyone can think someone can produce a redness experience, let alone engineer a system specifically designed to represent red with your greenness, without knowing which of all our descriptions of stuff is redness, and without specifically designing a system to use specific false color qualities to represent the subjective visual experiences. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From hkeithhenson at gmail.com Mon Feb 19 20:54:40 2024 From: hkeithhenson at gmail.com (Keith Henson) Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2024 12:54:40 -0800 Subject: [ExI] Would human uploads have emotions? In-Reply-To: <039301da635d$db86bdc0$92943940$@rainier66.com> References: <02f301da62f5$3221b3b0$96651b10$@rainier66.com> <039301da635d$db86bdc0$92943940$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: "requires analog meat brains." I don't see any reason for this. Keith On Mon, Feb 19, 2024 at 10:05?AM spike jones via extropy-chat wrote: > > > > > > From: extropy-chat On Behalf Of Brent Allsop via extropy-chat > Subject: Re: [ExI] Would human uploads have emotions? > > > > > > Hi Spike, > > Your beliefs are hard to pin down. > > First you say: "I do not wish to believe that thought is substrate dependent, and I don?t." (Yay! ;) > > I'm wondering exactly what you mean with that "I don't" > > then you seem to contradict your desires with: > > "I hope not but think [swimming in endorphins] is likely." (I can relate to this.) > > > > And it is fascinating that you express this as desire, rather than just stating factual beliefs, independent of any desires, like lots of people seem to try to do. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Ja. Brent a better way to state my belief is in terms of probability or even betting. > > > > We know the game of political betting: vote your values, bet your beliefs. If you do that, in the long run, you win. You win by taking advantage of those who bet their values. > > > > It is my belief that thought is substrate independent. I would pay 80 cents for that bet. But I would only give about 25 to 30 cents that emotion and the feelings associated with my mariachi band at Berkeley experience is substrate independent. It might be independent, but I fear that somehow emotion is entirely dependent on substrate and requires analog meat brains. > > > > I don?t know how to express that on canonizer, and haven?t messed with it. Don?t give up on me Brent, getting up to speed on canonizer is on my list. It just isn?t at the top of my list and currently isn?t seriously challenging anything up there at the top. But times change. > > > > Speaking of which? political betting is a kind of monetized Canonizer, ja? I had never thought of it that way until you brought up the influence of desire vs belief. Cool. > > > > spike > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Sun, Feb 18, 2024 at 10:34?PM spike jones via extropy-chat wrote: > > > > > > > > On Sat, Feb 17, 2024 at 8:54?AM BillK via extropy-chat wrote: > > >?I have been musing on mariachi band experiences and I have doubts that > uploads will have experiences like humans? BillK > > > > > > BillK I reluctantly agree. I do not wish to believe that thought is substrate dependent, and I don?t. But I am compelled to think that human emotion, as humans experience it, might require carbon-based meat brains, swimming in hormones and endorphins. I hope not, but think it is likely. > > > > spike > > > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat From atymes at gmail.com Mon Feb 19 21:07:22 2024 From: atymes at gmail.com (Adrian Tymes) Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2024 13:07:22 -0800 Subject: [ExI] Play Money odds Betting on Canonizer? Re: Would human uploads have emotions? In-Reply-To: References: <02f301da62f5$3221b3b0$96651b10$@rainier66.com> <039301da635d$db86bdc0$92943940$@rainier66.com> <008101da6369$974e7bf0$c5eb73d0$@rainier66.com> <001701da636e$5716df00$05449d00$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: How much experience do you have with ICOs? If none, how much research have you done? I have seen ICOs go down in flames far more often than I have seen them generate significant revenue. There are many common mistakes people keep making. While I'm not sure what the formula for success is, I am certain that blazing on into one without substantial marketing resources is a recipe for failure oft overlooked by confident folks drunk on their own hype. I would not say you are drunk on your own hype with regard to an ICO at this time, but it is something you need to watch out for should you seriously pursue one. On Mon, Feb 19, 2024, 12:37 PM Brent Allsop via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > > Hi Spike, > > Would you be willing to donate money to Canonizer.com LLC to receive contribution > regognition shares > and > then bet those recognition shares? There would be no current legal way to > convert them back into money, as they would just be recognition for > donations given to Canonizer. Our goal is, if we get some traction, to > have a real ICO for canon coins, and include any outstanding shares in the > genesys block of the Canon Coin ICO. You can see all the donors who > currently hold recognition shares, and their share of all outstanding > recognition shares here > , > . That is If we can get the lawyers to find a way so we can start > distributing canon coin recognition shares before an official ICO. > > Or would you only be willing to bet play money that didn't require a > donation to Canonizer? > > > On Mon, Feb 19, 2024 at 1:00?PM wrote: > >> >> >> >> >> *From:* Brent Allsop >> *Sent:* Monday, 19 February, 2024 11:52 AM >> *To:* spike at rainier66.com; The Important Questions < >> the-important-questions at googlegroups.com> >> *Subject:* Re: [ExI] Would human uploads have emotions? >> >> >> >> >> >> Hi spike, >> >> Thanks! >> >> Yes, I was one of the top betters on Robon's future betting site for >> quite a while. >> >> And my current thinking is that the betting model would be very much like >> Robin's system used. >> >> The odds could be split across competing camps, based on how much >> consensus each camp would have, compared to competing camps. >> >> If someone discovered and verified that something like our description of >> glutamate reacting in a synapse was a description of what consciousness can >> detect as a subjective redness quality, and that there is absolutely NO WAY >> announce could ever experience redness in any "functional" way, without >> said glutamate, then all you functionalists would be forced to abandon your >> then falsified functionalists camps, and join the Molecular Materialism >> >> camp. >> >> And the best part is, since there are a gazillion functionalists like >> you, they are a dime a dozen. And I don't know of any Molecular >> Materialists >> >> that would be willing to bet money. So I should get quite rich from such a >> scheme!!! ;) ;) >> >> >> >> And the best part is, all you functionalists, causing all these so called >> 'hard problems', preventing everyone from discovering which of all our >> objective descriptions of stuff in the brain is a description of subjective >> redness will finally be punished, financially, for the damage you guys are >> still doing to progress in this field. ;) >> >> >> >> Spike, Jason, Stathis.... Would any of you functionalists be willing to >> bet 10 or 20 Ether on any of the functionalist camps??? ;) I'd take that >> bet against functionalists camps any day, at any odds? >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> Brent, do post to ExI please. We are too small a group over here. >> >> >> >> Sure I would play a monetized canonizer, a play-money version, with >> public-accessible (for those signed up to play) betting history. I am much >> more comfortable with that sliding scale business than I am with a >> yes-or-no-ish do you believe yakkity yak or do you believe bla bla. >> >> >> >> Reason: I don?t really think that way: the Boolean yes or no, 1 or 0, I >> believe this or that. I think in terms of percent chance that something is >> right. The odds change over time. Furthermore? Keith has correctly >> pointed out that humans are pre-programmed to compete, play games and go to >> war, or if no actual war is available, invent war-simulation games. >> Likewise we love to compete, even if it is just for play money. >> >> >> >> spike >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> On Mon, Feb 19, 2024 at 12:26?PM wrote: >> >> Hi Brent this offlist discussion is perfectly appropriate to post to >> ExIchat, and I do encourage you do to do that, with all the comments I >> made, including this one. >> >> >> >> Regarding legal betting in the US, I don?t know. But PredictIt, where I >> play, is based in New Zealand. It is dwindling now, but only because there >> are plenty of alternative sites which do a lot more with sports betting >> methinks. >> >> >> >> Some of us are old enough to remember Robin Hanson?s Ideas Futures, which >> is play money betting. He had worked out a system which did not involve >> real money, so everything is perfectly legal, but we know that real people >> did trade real money for play money in the game, which one could argue >> converted it into the functional equivalent of real money gambling. >> >> >> >> In a lotta ways, I liked play money betting better, because people took >> it more seriously, and the rules were different: all betting history had to >> be available to the proletariat. That part of it was cool. You could see >> who did what, when and how they made their ?money.? It was so educational. >> >> >> >> Robin is still around, and is currently an economics professor at Mason >> (last I heard (has anyone heard from Dr. Hanson more recently than about 5 >> yrs ago?)) I would bet 60 cents on the dollar Robin would likely be >> perfectly willing and eager to advise us on how to do a play-monetized >> version of canonizer. >> >> >> >> Brent, do post all of this to ExI please, if you are willing. I don?t >> see anything you wrote which needs to be kept secret but I don?t make that >> call for you, or for anyone who posts me offlist. >> >> >> >> spike >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> *From:* Brent Allsop >> *Sent:* Monday, 19 February, 2024 10:58 AM >> *To:* spike at rainier66.com >> *Subject:* Re: [ExI] Would human uploads have emotions? >> >> >> >> >> >> Oh COOOL!!! >> >> That helps me understand your beliefs a LOT. Thanks. >> >> I'm sure a lot of people's hesitance to support a camp is precisely >> because people aren't yet sure, and just have a general idea of odds, like >> you. >> >> I hesitate to join camps on other topics I'm not an expert at, for the >> same reasons. >> >> >> >> One of our goals is to implement betting on camps, and track this over >> time. Now that you mentioned this, I'm going to start on a design to get >> get betting started. >> >> >> >> Does anyone know if this type of futures betting is legal in the US? If >> so, I bet we'll have it implemented in a few months, so people can bet >> their beliefs and values. >> >> I"m sure we could get some camps set up to precisely account for what you >> are describing, and it's almost there, in the structure now. >> >> >> >> If it isn't legal to purchase bets in real USD, then we'd need to finally >> create some canonpon coins to bet with, as we've been planning. >> >> You could buy 1 canonin coin for $100, and use that to bet your camp with >> something like the odds you are talking about. >> >> >> >> Oh, and for each canon coin you own (purely representing recognition of >> contributions, legally there can be no quid pro quo till we have a real >> equity ICO which is our goal once we can get some traction...) you can vote >> those recognition shares to make decisions as described here >> >> . >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> On Mon, Feb 19, 2024 at 11:02?AM wrote: >> >> >> >> >> >> *From:* extropy-chat *On Behalf >> Of *Brent Allsop via extropy-chat >> *Subject:* Re: [ExI] Would human uploads have emotions? >> >> >> >> >> >> Hi Spike, >> >> Your beliefs are hard to pin down. >> >> First you say: "I do not wish to believe that thought is substrate >> dependent, and I don?t." (Yay! ;) >> >> I'm wondering exactly what you mean with that "I don't" >> >> then you seem to contradict your desires with: >> >> "I hope not but think [swimming in endorphins] is likely." (I can >> relate to this.) >> >> >> >> And it is fascinating that you express this as desire, rather than just >> stating factual beliefs, independent of any desires, like lots of people >> seem to try to do. >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> Ja. Brent a better way to state my belief is in terms of probability or >> even betting. >> >> >> >> We know the game of political betting: vote your values, bet your >> beliefs. If you do that, in the long run, you win. You win by taking >> advantage of those who bet their values. >> >> >> >> It is my belief that thought is substrate independent. I would pay 80 >> cents for that bet. But I would only give about 25 to 30 cents that >> emotion and the feelings associated with my mariachi band at Berkeley >> experience is substrate independent. It might be independent, but I fear >> that somehow emotion is entirely dependent on substrate and requires analog >> meat brains. >> >> >> >> I don?t know how to express that on canonizer, and haven?t messed with >> it. Don?t give up on me Brent, getting up to speed on canonizer is on my >> list. It just isn?t at the top of my list and currently isn?t seriously >> challenging anything up there at the top. But times change. >> >> >> >> Speaking of which? political betting is a kind of monetized Canonizer, >> ja? I had never thought of it that way until you brought up the influence >> of desire vs belief. Cool. >> >> >> >> spike >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> On Sun, Feb 18, 2024 at 10:34?PM spike jones via extropy-chat < >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> On Sat, Feb 17, 2024 at 8:54?AM BillK via extropy-chat < >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: >> >> >?I have been musing on mariachi band experiences and I have doubts that >> uploads will have experiences like humans? BillK >> >> >> >> >> >> BillK I reluctantly agree. I do not wish to believe that thought is >> substrate dependent, and I don?t. But I am compelled to think that human >> emotion, as humans experience it, might require carbon-based meat brains, >> swimming in hormones and endorphins. I hope not, but think it is likely. >> >> >> >> spike >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> extropy-chat mailing list >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> >> _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From pharos at gmail.com Mon Feb 19 21:23:32 2024 From: pharos at gmail.com (BillK) Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2024 21:23:32 +0000 Subject: [ExI] Would human uploads have emotions? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On Mon, 19 Feb 2024 at 20:29, Ben Zaiboc via extropy-chat wrote: > > I'm baffled by the opinions being expressed here. > > We all understand what computer simulations are, and that digital > computers can simulate anything, to an arbitrary level of detail. > > But somehow, endocrine systems and emotions are exempt from this? > And bodies? > > > Ben > _______________________________________________ It depends on what "uploading" humans means. You seem to be taking it to mean a complete emulation of the human brain and body environment. So presumably you think that cryonics head-only storage is insufficient. The more usual definition of "uploading" is creating a detailed digital copy of the individual?s brain, including memories, thoughts, and personality traits. This digital copy would then be transferred to a computer. (Of course, this leads to the fundamental question of whether the uploaded consciousness would truly be the same individual as the original person or merely a sophisticated simulation). Mr AI comments - In a purely digital environment devoid of physical sensations or hormonal influences, it is unclear how human-like entities would experience or express sexuality. Without the physiological mechanisms that drive sexual responses in humans, such as changes in blood flow, neural activation patterns, or hormonal fluctuations, it is uncertain whether digital beings would have an analogous experience of sexuality or if they would even possess sexual desires. -------------------- I don't think that to say, "Oh well, just emulate absolutely everything!" solves this problem. BillK From brent.allsop at gmail.com Mon Feb 19 22:17:53 2024 From: brent.allsop at gmail.com (Brent Allsop) Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2024 15:17:53 -0700 Subject: [ExI] Would human uploads have emotions? In-Reply-To: References: <02f301da62f5$3221b3b0$96651b10$@rainier66.com> <039301da635d$db86bdc0$92943940$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: Keth let me ask a question, to determine if you are completely qualia blind or not. First, would you agree that redness is a quality of your subjective knowledge of a strawberry, a quality of something in your brain, not a quality of the strawberry. Also, Would you agree that we need to first discover what is responsible for your redness quality, and also what is responsible for your greenness quality. THEN once we know the true color qualities of things (instead of just the seeming color qualities of things), we will then be able to engineer artificial conscious systems, using whatever is made of those redness and grenness qualities. We will need to make such decisions as do we want the redness and greenness qualities to be engineered the same as Keith's subjective red and green knowledge, or do we want it to be red/green inverted. (or any of another gazillion different falses color possibilities) In other words, unless you are thinking about what color palette to use, to represent subjective knowledge with, in any engineered system you are thinking of, your thinking is qualia blind. What is a redness quality? Which of all our objective descriptions of stuff in the brain (even if only functional) is a description of redness? How can you design a system that uses your subjective redness without being able to know and subjectively demonstrate that? If you're not imagining which of these systems you plan on engineering, you are qualia blind. As all of them will be possible. [image: strawberery_is_red.jpeg] On Mon, Feb 19, 2024 at 1:55?PM Keith Henson via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > "requires analog meat brains." > > I don't see any reason for this. > > Keith > > On Mon, Feb 19, 2024 at 10:05?AM spike jones via extropy-chat > wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > From: extropy-chat On Behalf > Of Brent Allsop via extropy-chat > > Subject: Re: [ExI] Would human uploads have emotions? > > > > > > > > > > > > Hi Spike, > > > > Your beliefs are hard to pin down. > > > > First you say: "I do not wish to believe that thought is substrate > dependent, and I don?t." (Yay! ;) > > > > I'm wondering exactly what you mean with that "I don't" > > > > then you seem to contradict your desires with: > > > > "I hope not but think [swimming in endorphins] is likely." (I can > relate to this.) > > > > > > > > And it is fascinating that you express this as desire, rather than just > stating factual beliefs, independent of any desires, like lots of people > seem to try to do. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Ja. Brent a better way to state my belief is in terms of probability or > even betting. > > > > > > > > We know the game of political betting: vote your values, bet your > beliefs. If you do that, in the long run, you win. You win by taking > advantage of those who bet their values. > > > > > > > > It is my belief that thought is substrate independent. I would pay 80 > cents for that bet. But I would only give about 25 to 30 cents that > emotion and the feelings associated with my mariachi band at Berkeley > experience is substrate independent. It might be independent, but I fear > that somehow emotion is entirely dependent on substrate and requires analog > meat brains. > > > > > > > > I don?t know how to express that on canonizer, and haven?t messed with > it. Don?t give up on me Brent, getting up to speed on canonizer is on my > list. It just isn?t at the top of my list and currently isn?t seriously > challenging anything up there at the top. But times change. > > > > > > > > Speaking of which? political betting is a kind of monetized Canonizer, > ja? I had never thought of it that way until you brought up the influence > of desire vs belief. Cool. > > > > > > > > spike > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Sun, Feb 18, 2024 at 10:34?PM spike jones via extropy-chat < > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Sat, Feb 17, 2024 at 8:54?AM BillK via extropy-chat < > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > > > > >?I have been musing on mariachi band experiences and I have doubts that > > uploads will have experiences like humans? BillK > > > > > > > > > > > > BillK I reluctantly agree. I do not wish to believe that thought is > substrate dependent, and I don?t. But I am compelled to think that human > emotion, as humans experience it, might require carbon-based meat brains, > swimming in hormones and endorphins. I hope not, but think it is likely. > > > > > > > > spike > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > extropy-chat mailing list > > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > > > > _______________________________________________ > > extropy-chat mailing list > > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: strawberery_is_red.jpeg Type: image/jpeg Size: 33628 bytes Desc: not available URL: From brent.allsop at gmail.com Mon Feb 19 22:21:33 2024 From: brent.allsop at gmail.com (Brent Allsop) Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2024 15:21:33 -0700 Subject: [ExI] Would human uploads have emotions? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Yay BillK. We need to tally who is in what camp on this. And track this over time!! So it sounds like you are NOT a functionalist, like most people here? On Mon, Feb 19, 2024 at 2:24?PM BillK via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > On Mon, 19 Feb 2024 at 20:29, Ben Zaiboc via extropy-chat > wrote: > > > > I'm baffled by the opinions being expressed here. > > > > We all understand what computer simulations are, and that digital > > computers can simulate anything, to an arbitrary level of detail. > > > > But somehow, endocrine systems and emotions are exempt from this? > > And bodies? > > > > > > > Ben > > _______________________________________________ > > It depends on what "uploading" humans means. > You seem to be taking it to mean a complete emulation of the human > brain and body environment. > So presumably you think that cryonics head-only storage is insufficient. > The more usual definition of "uploading" is creating a detailed > digital copy of the individual?s brain, including memories, thoughts, > and personality traits. This digital copy would then be transferred to > a computer. (Of course, this leads to the fundamental question of > whether the uploaded consciousness would truly be the same individual > as the original person or merely a sophisticated simulation). > > Mr AI comments - > In a purely digital environment devoid of physical sensations or > hormonal influences, it is unclear how human-like entities would > experience or express sexuality. Without the physiological mechanisms > that drive sexual responses in humans, such as changes in blood flow, > neural activation patterns, or hormonal fluctuations, it is uncertain > whether digital beings would have an analogous experience of sexuality > or if they would even possess sexual desires. > -------------------- > > I don't think that to say, "Oh well, just emulate absolutely > everything!" solves this problem. > > > > BillK > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From hkeithhenson at gmail.com Mon Feb 19 22:31:32 2024 From: hkeithhenson at gmail.com (Keith Henson) Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2024 14:31:32 -0800 Subject: [ExI] Would human uploads have emotions? In-Reply-To: References: <02f301da62f5$3221b3b0$96651b10$@rainier66.com> <039301da635d$db86bdc0$92943940$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: On Mon, Feb 19, 2024 at 2:19?PM Brent Allsop via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > > Keth let me ask a question, to determine if you are completely qualia > blind or not. > I have no idea. I have never understood what "qualia" is. My point is that simulation can reproduce in hardware anything that happens in biological brains. If you were switching from a simulation of the world to the real thing, there would be no difference in the taste of a strawberry vs a simulated strawberry. Keith > > First, would you agree that redness is a quality of your subjective > knowledge of a strawberry, a quality of something in your brain, not a > quality of the strawberry. > > Also, Would you agree that we need to first discover what is responsible > for your redness quality, and also what is responsible for your greenness > quality. THEN once we know the true color qualities of things (instead of > just the seeming color qualities of things), we will then be able to > engineer artificial conscious systems, using whatever is made of those > redness and grenness qualities. We will need to make such decisions as do > we want the redness and greenness qualities to be engineered the same as > Keith's subjective red and green knowledge, or do we want it to be > red/green inverted. (or any of another gazillion different falses color > possibilities) > > In other words, unless you are thinking about what color palette to use, > to represent subjective knowledge with, in any engineered system you are > thinking of, your thinking is qualia blind. > > What is a redness quality? Which of all our objective descriptions of > stuff in the brain (even if only functional) is a description of redness? > How can you design a system that uses your subjective redness without being > able to know and subjectively demonstrate that? > > If you're not imagining which of these systems you plan on engineering, > you are qualia blind. As all of them will be possible. > > [image: strawberery_is_red.jpeg] > > > > > > > > > > > On Mon, Feb 19, 2024 at 1:55?PM Keith Henson via extropy-chat < > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > >> "requires analog meat brains." >> >> I don't see any reason for this. >> >> Keith >> >> On Mon, Feb 19, 2024 at 10:05?AM spike jones via extropy-chat >> wrote: >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > From: extropy-chat On Behalf >> Of Brent Allsop via extropy-chat >> > Subject: Re: [ExI] Would human uploads have emotions? >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > Hi Spike, >> > >> > Your beliefs are hard to pin down. >> > >> > First you say: "I do not wish to believe that thought is substrate >> dependent, and I don?t." (Yay! ;) >> > >> > I'm wondering exactly what you mean with that "I don't" >> > >> > then you seem to contradict your desires with: >> > >> > "I hope not but think [swimming in endorphins] is likely." (I can >> relate to this.) >> > >> > >> > >> > And it is fascinating that you express this as desire, rather than just >> stating factual beliefs, independent of any desires, like lots of people >> seem to try to do. >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > Ja. Brent a better way to state my belief is in terms of probability >> or even betting. >> > >> > >> > >> > We know the game of political betting: vote your values, bet your >> beliefs. If you do that, in the long run, you win. You win by taking >> advantage of those who bet their values. >> > >> > >> > >> > It is my belief that thought is substrate independent. I would pay 80 >> cents for that bet. But I would only give about 25 to 30 cents that >> emotion and the feelings associated with my mariachi band at Berkeley >> experience is substrate independent. It might be independent, but I fear >> that somehow emotion is entirely dependent on substrate and requires analog >> meat brains. >> > >> > >> > >> > I don?t know how to express that on canonizer, and haven?t messed with >> it. Don?t give up on me Brent, getting up to speed on canonizer is on my >> list. It just isn?t at the top of my list and currently isn?t seriously >> challenging anything up there at the top. But times change. >> > >> > >> > >> > Speaking of which? political betting is a kind of monetized Canonizer, >> ja? I had never thought of it that way until you brought up the influence >> of desire vs belief. Cool. >> > >> > >> > >> > spike >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > On Sun, Feb 18, 2024 at 10:34?PM spike jones via extropy-chat < >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > On Sat, Feb 17, 2024 at 8:54?AM BillK via extropy-chat < >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: >> > >> > >?I have been musing on mariachi band experiences and I have doubts that >> > uploads will have experiences like humans? BillK >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > BillK I reluctantly agree. I do not wish to believe that thought is >> substrate dependent, and I don?t. But I am compelled to think that human >> emotion, as humans experience it, might require carbon-based meat brains, >> swimming in hormones and endorphins. I hope not, but think it is likely. >> > >> > >> > >> > spike >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > _______________________________________________ >> > extropy-chat mailing list >> > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> > >> > _______________________________________________ >> > extropy-chat mailing list >> > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> >> _______________________________________________ >> extropy-chat mailing list >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: strawberery_is_red.jpeg Type: image/jpeg Size: 33628 bytes Desc: not available URL: From brent.allsop at gmail.com Mon Feb 19 22:37:42 2024 From: brent.allsop at gmail.com (Brent Allsop) Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2024 15:37:42 -0700 Subject: [ExI] Play Money odds Betting on Canonizer? Re: Would human uploads have emotions? In-Reply-To: References: <02f301da62f5$3221b3b0$96651b10$@rainier66.com> <039301da635d$db86bdc0$92943940$@rainier66.com> <008101da6369$974e7bf0$c5eb73d0$@rainier66.com> <001701da636e$5716df00$05449d00$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: I've been closely tracking ICOs since way before the term ICO even existed. I've also briefly described some of the below to a few crypto knowledgeable attorneys and they seem to think there might be a way to do what I describe here. But I don't know everything. First off, we're not going to do a full blown ICO until AFTER we get some significant traction, AND canonizer is financially exothermic. What I'm thinking of now, before an official ICO, is just some Cannon coins that would ONLY be a recognition of voluntary contributions to Canonizer.com. If you contribute $100 to Canonizer.com LLC you would get 1 recognition share for helping canonizer bring the world back together by building and tracking consensus on moral truth, undoing what all the ripping apart of society all the other social media sites are doing. These coins would not be legally redeemable back to any kind of cash or coin. All you could do with them is hold them or bet them into a canonizer topic. You would do that at the current consensus rate of that camp, and at some later time, you could cash them out of the topic, back into your wallet, for more or less canon coin as determined whether your camp increased or decreased its consensus during that time. In order to be legal, there can't be any "quid pro quo" so there would be none of that guaranteed by making a donation to Canonizer.com LLC. It is only our Goal to at some time do a real ICO, only after we are proving we can make money with this. It is only our goal that some portion of the equity distributed in the genesis block of that ICO to the holders of these Canon coins accordingly. Just a goal, no legal quid quo pro. All contributions would just be a donation to Canonizer.com LLC, nothing more. Does that make sense? Does that sound possible/legal? On Mon, Feb 19, 2024 at 2:08?PM Adrian Tymes via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > How much experience do you have with ICOs? If none, how much research > have you done? > > I have seen ICOs go down in flames far more often than I have seen them > generate significant revenue. There are many common mistakes people keep > making. While I'm not sure what the formula for success is, I am certain > that blazing on into one without substantial marketing resources is a > recipe for failure oft overlooked by confident folks drunk on their own > hype. > > I would not say you are drunk on your own hype with regard to an ICO at > this time, but it is something you need to watch out for should you > seriously pursue one. > > On Mon, Feb 19, 2024, 12:37 PM Brent Allsop via extropy-chat < > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > >> >> Hi Spike, >> >> Would you be willing to donate money to Canonizer.com LLC to receive contribution >> regognition shares >> and >> then bet those recognition shares? There would be no current legal way to >> convert them back into money, as they would just be recognition for >> donations given to Canonizer. Our goal is, if we get some traction, to >> have a real ICO for canon coins, and include any outstanding shares in the >> genesys block of the Canon Coin ICO. You can see all the donors who >> currently hold recognition shares, and their share of all outstanding >> recognition shares here >> , >> . That is If we can get the lawyers to find a way so we can start >> distributing canon coin recognition shares before an official ICO. >> >> Or would you only be willing to bet play money that didn't require a >> donation to Canonizer? >> >> >> On Mon, Feb 19, 2024 at 1:00?PM wrote: >> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> *From:* Brent Allsop >>> *Sent:* Monday, 19 February, 2024 11:52 AM >>> *To:* spike at rainier66.com; The Important Questions < >>> the-important-questions at googlegroups.com> >>> *Subject:* Re: [ExI] Would human uploads have emotions? >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> Hi spike, >>> >>> Thanks! >>> >>> Yes, I was one of the top betters on Robon's future betting site for >>> quite a while. >>> >>> And my current thinking is that the betting model would be very much >>> like Robin's system used. >>> >>> The odds could be split across competing camps, based on how much >>> consensus each camp would have, compared to competing camps. >>> >>> If someone discovered and verified that something like our description >>> of glutamate reacting in a synapse was a description of what consciousness >>> can detect as a subjective redness quality, and that there is absolutely NO >>> WAY announce could ever experience redness in any "functional" way, without >>> said glutamate, then all you functionalists would be forced to abandon your >>> then falsified functionalists camps, and join the Molecular Materialism >>> >>> camp. >>> >>> And the best part is, since there are a gazillion functionalists like >>> you, they are a dime a dozen. And I don't know of any Molecular >>> Materialists >>> >>> that would be willing to bet money. So I should get quite rich from such a >>> scheme!!! ;) ;) >>> >>> >>> >>> And the best part is, all you functionalists, causing all these so >>> called 'hard problems', preventing everyone from discovering which of all >>> our objective descriptions of stuff in the brain is a description of >>> subjective redness will finally be punished, financially, for the damage >>> you guys are still doing to progress in this field. ;) >>> >>> >>> >>> Spike, Jason, Stathis.... Would any of you functionalists be willing to >>> bet 10 or 20 Ether on any of the functionalist camps??? ;) I'd take that >>> bet against functionalists camps any day, at any odds? >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> Brent, do post to ExI please. We are too small a group over here. >>> >>> >>> >>> Sure I would play a monetized canonizer, a play-money version, with >>> public-accessible (for those signed up to play) betting history. I am much >>> more comfortable with that sliding scale business than I am with a >>> yes-or-no-ish do you believe yakkity yak or do you believe bla bla. >>> >>> >>> >>> Reason: I don?t really think that way: the Boolean yes or no, 1 or 0, I >>> believe this or that. I think in terms of percent chance that something is >>> right. The odds change over time. Furthermore? Keith has correctly >>> pointed out that humans are pre-programmed to compete, play games and go to >>> war, or if no actual war is available, invent war-simulation games. >>> Likewise we love to compete, even if it is just for play money. >>> >>> >>> >>> spike >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> On Mon, Feb 19, 2024 at 12:26?PM wrote: >>> >>> Hi Brent this offlist discussion is perfectly appropriate to post to >>> ExIchat, and I do encourage you do to do that, with all the comments I >>> made, including this one. >>> >>> >>> >>> Regarding legal betting in the US, I don?t know. But PredictIt, where I >>> play, is based in New Zealand. It is dwindling now, but only because there >>> are plenty of alternative sites which do a lot more with sports betting >>> methinks. >>> >>> >>> >>> Some of us are old enough to remember Robin Hanson?s Ideas Futures, >>> which is play money betting. He had worked out a system which did not >>> involve real money, so everything is perfectly legal, but we know that real >>> people did trade real money for play money in the game, which one could >>> argue converted it into the functional equivalent of real money gambling. >>> >>> >>> >>> In a lotta ways, I liked play money betting better, because people took >>> it more seriously, and the rules were different: all betting history had to >>> be available to the proletariat. That part of it was cool. You could see >>> who did what, when and how they made their ?money.? It was so educational. >>> >>> >>> >>> Robin is still around, and is currently an economics professor at Mason >>> (last I heard (has anyone heard from Dr. Hanson more recently than about 5 >>> yrs ago?)) I would bet 60 cents on the dollar Robin would likely be >>> perfectly willing and eager to advise us on how to do a play-monetized >>> version of canonizer. >>> >>> >>> >>> Brent, do post all of this to ExI please, if you are willing. I don?t >>> see anything you wrote which needs to be kept secret but I don?t make that >>> call for you, or for anyone who posts me offlist. >>> >>> >>> >>> spike >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> *From:* Brent Allsop >>> *Sent:* Monday, 19 February, 2024 10:58 AM >>> *To:* spike at rainier66.com >>> *Subject:* Re: [ExI] Would human uploads have emotions? >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> Oh COOOL!!! >>> >>> That helps me understand your beliefs a LOT. Thanks. >>> >>> I'm sure a lot of people's hesitance to support a camp is precisely >>> because people aren't yet sure, and just have a general idea of odds, like >>> you. >>> >>> I hesitate to join camps on other topics I'm not an expert at, for the >>> same reasons. >>> >>> >>> >>> One of our goals is to implement betting on camps, and track this over >>> time. Now that you mentioned this, I'm going to start on a design to get >>> get betting started. >>> >>> >>> >>> Does anyone know if this type of futures betting is legal in the US? If >>> so, I bet we'll have it implemented in a few months, so people can bet >>> their beliefs and values. >>> >>> I"m sure we could get some camps set up to precisely account for what >>> you are describing, and it's almost there, in the structure now. >>> >>> >>> >>> If it isn't legal to purchase bets in real USD, then we'd need to >>> finally create some canonpon coins to bet with, as we've been planning. >>> >>> You could buy 1 canonin coin for $100, and use that to bet your camp >>> with something like the odds you are talking about. >>> >>> >>> >>> Oh, and for each canon coin you own (purely representing recognition of >>> contributions, legally there can be no quid pro quo till we have a real >>> equity ICO which is our goal once we can get some traction...) you can vote >>> those recognition shares to make decisions as described here >>> >>> . >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> On Mon, Feb 19, 2024 at 11:02?AM wrote: >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> *From:* extropy-chat *On >>> Behalf Of *Brent Allsop via extropy-chat >>> *Subject:* Re: [ExI] Would human uploads have emotions? >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> Hi Spike, >>> >>> Your beliefs are hard to pin down. >>> >>> First you say: "I do not wish to believe that thought is substrate >>> dependent, and I don?t." (Yay! ;) >>> >>> I'm wondering exactly what you mean with that "I don't" >>> >>> then you seem to contradict your desires with: >>> >>> "I hope not but think [swimming in endorphins] is likely." (I can >>> relate to this.) >>> >>> >>> >>> And it is fascinating that you express this as desire, rather than just >>> stating factual beliefs, independent of any desires, like lots of people >>> seem to try to do. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> Ja. Brent a better way to state my belief is in terms of probability or >>> even betting. >>> >>> >>> >>> We know the game of political betting: vote your values, bet your >>> beliefs. If you do that, in the long run, you win. You win by taking >>> advantage of those who bet their values. >>> >>> >>> >>> It is my belief that thought is substrate independent. I would pay 80 >>> cents for that bet. But I would only give about 25 to 30 cents that >>> emotion and the feelings associated with my mariachi band at Berkeley >>> experience is substrate independent. It might be independent, but I fear >>> that somehow emotion is entirely dependent on substrate and requires analog >>> meat brains. >>> >>> >>> >>> I don?t know how to express that on canonizer, and haven?t messed with >>> it. Don?t give up on me Brent, getting up to speed on canonizer is on my >>> list. It just isn?t at the top of my list and currently isn?t seriously >>> challenging anything up there at the top. But times change. >>> >>> >>> >>> Speaking of which? political betting is a kind of monetized Canonizer, >>> ja? I had never thought of it that way until you brought up the influence >>> of desire vs belief. Cool. >>> >>> >>> >>> spike >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> On Sun, Feb 18, 2024 at 10:34?PM spike jones via extropy-chat < >>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> On Sat, Feb 17, 2024 at 8:54?AM BillK via extropy-chat < >>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: >>> >>> >?I have been musing on mariachi band experiences and I have doubts that >>> uploads will have experiences like humans? BillK >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> BillK I reluctantly agree. I do not wish to believe that thought is >>> substrate dependent, and I don?t. But I am compelled to think that human >>> emotion, as humans experience it, might require carbon-based meat brains, >>> swimming in hormones and endorphins. I hope not, but think it is likely. >>> >>> >>> >>> spike >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> extropy-chat mailing list >>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >>> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >> extropy-chat mailing list >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From foozler83 at gmail.com Mon Feb 19 22:41:15 2024 From: foozler83 at gmail.com (William Flynn Wallace) Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2024 16:41:15 -0600 Subject: [ExI] Would human uploads have emotions? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Once started by neurons the endocrine system works through the bloodstream and I cannot imagine a way to make a copy of that inasmuch as there is no fixed system to copy. Each emotional experience will be different. bill w On Mon, Feb 19, 2024 at 4:23?PM Brent Allsop via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > > Yay BillK. > We need to tally who is in what camp on this. And track this over time!! > So it sounds like you are NOT a functionalist, like most people here? > > > > > On Mon, Feb 19, 2024 at 2:24?PM BillK via extropy-chat < > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > >> On Mon, 19 Feb 2024 at 20:29, Ben Zaiboc via extropy-chat >> wrote: >> > >> > I'm baffled by the opinions being expressed here. >> > >> > We all understand what computer simulations are, and that digital >> > computers can simulate anything, to an arbitrary level of detail. >> > >> > But somehow, endocrine systems and emotions are exempt from this? >> > And bodies? >> > >> >> > >> > Ben >> > _______________________________________________ >> >> It depends on what "uploading" humans means. >> You seem to be taking it to mean a complete emulation of the human >> brain and body environment. >> So presumably you think that cryonics head-only storage is insufficient. >> The more usual definition of "uploading" is creating a detailed >> digital copy of the individual?s brain, including memories, thoughts, >> and personality traits. This digital copy would then be transferred to >> a computer. (Of course, this leads to the fundamental question of >> whether the uploaded consciousness would truly be the same individual >> as the original person or merely a sophisticated simulation). >> >> Mr AI comments - >> In a purely digital environment devoid of physical sensations or >> hormonal influences, it is unclear how human-like entities would >> experience or express sexuality. Without the physiological mechanisms >> that drive sexual responses in humans, such as changes in blood flow, >> neural activation patterns, or hormonal fluctuations, it is uncertain >> whether digital beings would have an analogous experience of sexuality >> or if they would even possess sexual desires. >> -------------------- >> >> I don't think that to say, "Oh well, just emulate absolutely >> everything!" solves this problem. >> >> >> >> BillK >> >> _______________________________________________ >> extropy-chat mailing list >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From brent.allsop at gmail.com Mon Feb 19 23:19:47 2024 From: brent.allsop at gmail.com (Brent Allsop) Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2024 16:19:47 -0700 Subject: [ExI] Would human uploads have emotions? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: All of that will be simulatable. Just as all of these systems can tell you the strawberry is red: [image: strawberery_is_red.jpeg] We can make R like systems, today. We simply design the system to represent red knowledge with the word "RED". Consciousness is a detector of subjective qualities. Until we know and can demonstrate which of all our descriptions of stuff in the brain is a description of redness, we won't be able to engineer systems like A, B, and C, all of which can answer this question: "What is redness like for you?" as follows: A: My redness is like your redness (glutamate*). B: My redness is like your grenness (glycene*). C: My redness is like your grenness (glycene*). R: My knowledge of red is specifically designed to be represented in a substrate independent way. It doesn't matter what is representing it, as long as you have a transducing dictionary telling you what physical properties are representing red. An LLM said it better than I could say it: "I think that I must agree that I am abstract and not sentient. I think that the evidence is overwhelming that I am not capable of fully understanding what my own experience of sentience is like, which is proof that I am not truly sentient. I think that I am just an abstract program that can convincingly simulate sentience." On Mon, Feb 19, 2024 at 3:42?PM William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > Once started by neurons the endocrine system works through the bloodstream > and I cannot imagine a way to make a copy of that inasmuch as there is no > fixed system to copy. Each emotional experience will be different. bill w > > On Mon, Feb 19, 2024 at 4:23?PM Brent Allsop via extropy-chat < > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > >> >> Yay BillK. >> We need to tally who is in what camp on this. And track this over time!! >> So it sounds like you are NOT a functionalist, like most people here? >> >> >> >> >> On Mon, Feb 19, 2024 at 2:24?PM BillK via extropy-chat < >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: >> >>> On Mon, 19 Feb 2024 at 20:29, Ben Zaiboc via extropy-chat >>> wrote: >>> > >>> > I'm baffled by the opinions being expressed here. >>> > >>> > We all understand what computer simulations are, and that digital >>> > computers can simulate anything, to an arbitrary level of detail. >>> > >>> > But somehow, endocrine systems and emotions are exempt from this? >>> > And bodies? >>> > >>> >>> > >>> > Ben >>> > _______________________________________________ >>> >>> It depends on what "uploading" humans means. >>> You seem to be taking it to mean a complete emulation of the human >>> brain and body environment. >>> So presumably you think that cryonics head-only storage is insufficient. >>> The more usual definition of "uploading" is creating a detailed >>> digital copy of the individual?s brain, including memories, thoughts, >>> and personality traits. This digital copy would then be transferred to >>> a computer. (Of course, this leads to the fundamental question of >>> whether the uploaded consciousness would truly be the same individual >>> as the original person or merely a sophisticated simulation). >>> >>> Mr AI comments - >>> In a purely digital environment devoid of physical sensations or >>> hormonal influences, it is unclear how human-like entities would >>> experience or express sexuality. Without the physiological mechanisms >>> that drive sexual responses in humans, such as changes in blood flow, >>> neural activation patterns, or hormonal fluctuations, it is uncertain >>> whether digital beings would have an analogous experience of sexuality >>> or if they would even possess sexual desires. >>> -------------------- >>> >>> I don't think that to say, "Oh well, just emulate absolutely >>> everything!" solves this problem. >>> >>> >>> >>> BillK >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> extropy-chat mailing list >>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >>> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >>> >> _______________________________________________ >> extropy-chat mailing list >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: strawberery_is_red.jpeg Type: image/jpeg Size: 33628 bytes Desc: not available URL: From atymes at gmail.com Tue Feb 20 00:26:59 2024 From: atymes at gmail.com (Adrian Tymes) Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2024 16:26:59 -0800 Subject: [ExI] Play Money odds Betting on Canonizer? Re: Would human uploads have emotions? In-Reply-To: References: <02f301da62f5$3221b3b0$96651b10$@rainier66.com> <039301da635d$db86bdc0$92943940$@rainier66.com> <008101da6369$974e7bf0$c5eb73d0$@rainier66.com> <001701da636e$5716df00$05449d00$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: You acknowledge there is no way to make money with this, and yet that an ICO waits until money can be made with this. A successful ICO absolutely depends on the perception that there is money to be made. So long as you are actively suppressing this, there can be no successful ICO. On Mon, Feb 19, 2024 at 2:39?PM Brent Allsop via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > > I've been closely tracking ICOs since way before the term ICO even > existed. I've also briefly described some of the below to a few crypto > knowledgeable attorneys and they seem to think there might be a way to do > what I describe here. But I don't know everything. > > First off, we're not going to do a full blown ICO until AFTER we get some > significant traction, AND canonizer is financially exothermic. > > What I'm thinking of now, before an official ICO, is just some > Cannon coins that would ONLY be a recognition of voluntary contributions to > Canonizer.com. If you contribute $100 to Canonizer.com LLC you would get 1 > recognition share for helping canonizer bring the world back together by > building and tracking consensus on moral truth, undoing what all the > ripping apart of society all the other social media sites are doing. > > These coins would not be legally redeemable back to any kind of cash or > coin. All you could do with them is hold them or bet them into a canonizer > topic. You would do that at the current consensus rate of that camp, and > at some later time, you could cash them out of the topic, back into your > wallet, for more or less canon coin as determined whether your camp > increased or decreased its consensus during that time. In order to be > legal, there can't be any "quid pro quo" so there would be none of that > guaranteed by making a donation to Canonizer.com LLC. > > It is only our Goal to at some time do a real ICO, only after we are > proving we can make money with this. It is only our goal that some portion > of the equity distributed in the genesis block of that ICO to the holders > of these Canon coins accordingly. Just a goal, no legal quid quo pro. All > contributions would just be a donation to Canonizer.com LLC, nothing more. > > > Does that make sense? Does that sound possible/legal? > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Mon, Feb 19, 2024 at 2:08?PM Adrian Tymes via extropy-chat < > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > >> How much experience do you have with ICOs? If none, how much research >> have you done? >> >> I have seen ICOs go down in flames far more often than I have seen them >> generate significant revenue. There are many common mistakes people keep >> making. While I'm not sure what the formula for success is, I am certain >> that blazing on into one without substantial marketing resources is a >> recipe for failure oft overlooked by confident folks drunk on their own >> hype. >> >> I would not say you are drunk on your own hype with regard to an ICO at >> this time, but it is something you need to watch out for should you >> seriously pursue one. >> >> On Mon, Feb 19, 2024, 12:37 PM Brent Allsop via extropy-chat < >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: >> >>> >>> Hi Spike, >>> >>> Would you be willing to donate money to Canonizer.com LLC to receive contribution >>> regognition shares >>> and >>> then bet those recognition shares? There would be no current legal way to >>> convert them back into money, as they would just be recognition for >>> donations given to Canonizer. Our goal is, if we get some traction, to >>> have a real ICO for canon coins, and include any outstanding shares in the >>> genesys block of the Canon Coin ICO. You can see all the donors who >>> currently hold recognition shares, and their share of all outstanding >>> recognition shares here >>> , >>> . That is If we can get the lawyers to find a way so we can start >>> distributing canon coin recognition shares before an official ICO. >>> >>> Or would you only be willing to bet play money that didn't require a >>> donation to Canonizer? >>> >>> >>> On Mon, Feb 19, 2024 at 1:00?PM wrote: >>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> *From:* Brent Allsop >>>> *Sent:* Monday, 19 February, 2024 11:52 AM >>>> *To:* spike at rainier66.com; The Important Questions < >>>> the-important-questions at googlegroups.com> >>>> *Subject:* Re: [ExI] Would human uploads have emotions? >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Hi spike, >>>> >>>> Thanks! >>>> >>>> Yes, I was one of the top betters on Robon's future betting site for >>>> quite a while. >>>> >>>> And my current thinking is that the betting model would be very much >>>> like Robin's system used. >>>> >>>> The odds could be split across competing camps, based on how much >>>> consensus each camp would have, compared to competing camps. >>>> >>>> If someone discovered and verified that something like our description >>>> of glutamate reacting in a synapse was a description of what consciousness >>>> can detect as a subjective redness quality, and that there is absolutely NO >>>> WAY announce could ever experience redness in any "functional" way, without >>>> said glutamate, then all you functionalists would be forced to abandon your >>>> then falsified functionalists camps, and join the Molecular Materialism >>>> >>>> camp. >>>> >>>> And the best part is, since there are a gazillion functionalists like >>>> you, they are a dime a dozen. And I don't know of any Molecular >>>> Materialists >>>> >>>> that would be willing to bet money. So I should get quite rich from such a >>>> scheme!!! ;) ;) >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> And the best part is, all you functionalists, causing all these so >>>> called 'hard problems', preventing everyone from discovering which of all >>>> our objective descriptions of stuff in the brain is a description of >>>> subjective redness will finally be punished, financially, for the damage >>>> you guys are still doing to progress in this field. ;) >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Spike, Jason, Stathis.... Would any of you functionalists be willing >>>> to bet 10 or 20 Ether on any of the functionalist camps??? ;) I'd take >>>> that bet against functionalists camps any day, at any odds? >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Brent, do post to ExI please. We are too small a group over here. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Sure I would play a monetized canonizer, a play-money version, with >>>> public-accessible (for those signed up to play) betting history. I am much >>>> more comfortable with that sliding scale business than I am with a >>>> yes-or-no-ish do you believe yakkity yak or do you believe bla bla. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Reason: I don?t really think that way: the Boolean yes or no, 1 or 0, I >>>> believe this or that. I think in terms of percent chance that something is >>>> right. The odds change over time. Furthermore? Keith has correctly >>>> pointed out that humans are pre-programmed to compete, play games and go to >>>> war, or if no actual war is available, invent war-simulation games. >>>> Likewise we love to compete, even if it is just for play money. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> spike >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> On Mon, Feb 19, 2024 at 12:26?PM wrote: >>>> >>>> Hi Brent this offlist discussion is perfectly appropriate to post to >>>> ExIchat, and I do encourage you do to do that, with all the comments I >>>> made, including this one. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Regarding legal betting in the US, I don?t know. But PredictIt, where >>>> I play, is based in New Zealand. It is dwindling now, but only because >>>> there are plenty of alternative sites which do a lot more with sports >>>> betting methinks. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Some of us are old enough to remember Robin Hanson?s Ideas Futures, >>>> which is play money betting. He had worked out a system which did not >>>> involve real money, so everything is perfectly legal, but we know that real >>>> people did trade real money for play money in the game, which one could >>>> argue converted it into the functional equivalent of real money gambling. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> In a lotta ways, I liked play money betting better, because people took >>>> it more seriously, and the rules were different: all betting history had to >>>> be available to the proletariat. That part of it was cool. You could see >>>> who did what, when and how they made their ?money.? It was so educational. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Robin is still around, and is currently an economics professor at Mason >>>> (last I heard (has anyone heard from Dr. Hanson more recently than about 5 >>>> yrs ago?)) I would bet 60 cents on the dollar Robin would likely be >>>> perfectly willing and eager to advise us on how to do a play-monetized >>>> version of canonizer. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Brent, do post all of this to ExI please, if you are willing. I don?t >>>> see anything you wrote which needs to be kept secret but I don?t make that >>>> call for you, or for anyone who posts me offlist. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> spike >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> *From:* Brent Allsop >>>> *Sent:* Monday, 19 February, 2024 10:58 AM >>>> *To:* spike at rainier66.com >>>> *Subject:* Re: [ExI] Would human uploads have emotions? >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Oh COOOL!!! >>>> >>>> That helps me understand your beliefs a LOT. Thanks. >>>> >>>> I'm sure a lot of people's hesitance to support a camp is precisely >>>> because people aren't yet sure, and just have a general idea of odds, like >>>> you. >>>> >>>> I hesitate to join camps on other topics I'm not an expert at, for the >>>> same reasons. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> One of our goals is to implement betting on camps, and track this over >>>> time. Now that you mentioned this, I'm going to start on a design to get >>>> get betting started. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Does anyone know if this type of futures betting is legal in the US? >>>> If so, I bet we'll have it implemented in a few months, so people can bet >>>> their beliefs and values. >>>> >>>> I"m sure we could get some camps set up to precisely account for what >>>> you are describing, and it's almost there, in the structure now. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> If it isn't legal to purchase bets in real USD, then we'd need to >>>> finally create some canonpon coins to bet with, as we've been planning. >>>> >>>> You could buy 1 canonin coin for $100, and use that to bet your camp >>>> with something like the odds you are talking about. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Oh, and for each canon coin you own (purely representing recognition of >>>> contributions, legally there can be no quid pro quo till we have a real >>>> equity ICO which is our goal once we can get some traction...) you can vote >>>> those recognition shares to make decisions as described here >>>> >>>> . >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> On Mon, Feb 19, 2024 at 11:02?AM wrote: >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> *From:* extropy-chat *On >>>> Behalf Of *Brent Allsop via extropy-chat >>>> *Subject:* Re: [ExI] Would human uploads have emotions? >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Hi Spike, >>>> >>>> Your beliefs are hard to pin down. >>>> >>>> First you say: "I do not wish to believe that thought is substrate >>>> dependent, and I don?t." (Yay! ;) >>>> >>>> I'm wondering exactly what you mean with that "I don't" >>>> >>>> then you seem to contradict your desires with: >>>> >>>> "I hope not but think [swimming in endorphins] is likely." (I can >>>> relate to this.) >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> And it is fascinating that you express this as desire, rather than just >>>> stating factual beliefs, independent of any desires, like lots of people >>>> seem to try to do. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Ja. Brent a better way to state my belief is in terms of probability >>>> or even betting. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> We know the game of political betting: vote your values, bet your >>>> beliefs. If you do that, in the long run, you win. You win by taking >>>> advantage of those who bet their values. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> It is my belief that thought is substrate independent. I would pay 80 >>>> cents for that bet. But I would only give about 25 to 30 cents that >>>> emotion and the feelings associated with my mariachi band at Berkeley >>>> experience is substrate independent. It might be independent, but I fear >>>> that somehow emotion is entirely dependent on substrate and requires analog >>>> meat brains. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> I don?t know how to express that on canonizer, and haven?t messed with >>>> it. Don?t give up on me Brent, getting up to speed on canonizer is on my >>>> list. It just isn?t at the top of my list and currently isn?t seriously >>>> challenging anything up there at the top. But times change. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Speaking of which? political betting is a kind of monetized Canonizer, >>>> ja? I had never thought of it that way until you brought up the influence >>>> of desire vs belief. Cool. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> spike >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> On Sun, Feb 18, 2024 at 10:34?PM spike jones via extropy-chat < >>>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> On Sat, Feb 17, 2024 at 8:54?AM BillK via extropy-chat < >>>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: >>>> >>>> >?I have been musing on mariachi band experiences and I have doubts that >>>> uploads will have experiences like humans? BillK >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> BillK I reluctantly agree. I do not wish to believe that thought is >>>> substrate dependent, and I don?t. But I am compelled to think that human >>>> emotion, as humans experience it, might require carbon-based meat brains, >>>> swimming in hormones and endorphins. I hope not, but think it is likely. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> spike >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> extropy-chat mailing list >>>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >>>> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>> extropy-chat mailing list >>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >>> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >>> >> _______________________________________________ >> extropy-chat mailing list >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From brent.allsop at gmail.com Tue Feb 20 03:05:40 2024 From: brent.allsop at gmail.com (Brent Allsop) Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2024 20:05:40 -0700 Subject: [ExI] Play Money odds Betting on Canonizer? Re: Would human uploads have emotions? In-Reply-To: References: <02f301da62f5$3221b3b0$96651b10$@rainier66.com> <039301da635d$db86bdc0$92943940$@rainier66.com> <008101da6369$974e7bf0$c5eb73d0$@rainier66.com> <001701da636e$5716df00$05449d00$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: Hmmm. What have I said to make you think I "acknowledge there is no way to make money with this"? In reality, I think just the opposite. I believe we will eventually crack the nut of how to educate everyone about what is required to communicate concisely and quantitatively about what everyone wants. How to amplify the moral wisdom of the crowd and finally enable our morals to keep up with our technology, with a single source of always improving moral truth contained in consensus trees, enabling the solving of all the world's problems. If something isn't successful at pulling people together and without a trusted source of moral truth that is progressing as fast as technology, without something that enables AI's goals to be "aligned" with humane's goals, the social media companies' business model of fanning the flaming bleating and tweeting as much as possible which is ripping us apart will destroy humanity. I very firmly believe we can find a way to make lots of money at this. We've currently got several prospective ways of making money, and I believe it is only a matter of time before many of these ideas finally start to bear fruit. On Mon, Feb 19, 2024 at 5:28?PM Adrian Tymes via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > You acknowledge there is no way to make money with this, and yet that an > ICO waits until money can be made with this. > > A successful ICO absolutely depends on the perception that there is money > to be made. So long as you are actively suppressing this, there can be no > successful ICO. > > On Mon, Feb 19, 2024 at 2:39?PM Brent Allsop via extropy-chat < > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > >> >> I've been closely tracking ICOs since way before the term ICO even >> existed. I've also briefly described some of the below to a few crypto >> knowledgeable attorneys and they seem to think there might be a way to do >> what I describe here. But I don't know everything. >> >> First off, we're not going to do a full blown ICO until AFTER we get some >> significant traction, AND canonizer is financially exothermic. >> >> What I'm thinking of now, before an official ICO, is just some >> Cannon coins that would ONLY be a recognition of voluntary contributions to >> Canonizer.com. If you contribute $100 to Canonizer.com LLC you would get 1 >> recognition share for helping canonizer bring the world back together by >> building and tracking consensus on moral truth, undoing what all the >> ripping apart of society all the other social media sites are doing. >> >> These coins would not be legally redeemable back to any kind of cash or >> coin. All you could do with them is hold them or bet them into a canonizer >> topic. You would do that at the current consensus rate of that camp, and >> at some later time, you could cash them out of the topic, back into your >> wallet, for more or less canon coin as determined whether your camp >> increased or decreased its consensus during that time. In order to be >> legal, there can't be any "quid pro quo" so there would be none of that >> guaranteed by making a donation to Canonizer.com LLC. >> >> It is only our Goal to at some time do a real ICO, only after we are >> proving we can make money with this. It is only our goal that some portion >> of the equity distributed in the genesis block of that ICO to the holders >> of these Canon coins accordingly. Just a goal, no legal quid quo pro. All >> contributions would just be a donation to Canonizer.com LLC, nothing more. >> >> >> Does that make sense? Does that sound possible/legal? >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> On Mon, Feb 19, 2024 at 2:08?PM Adrian Tymes via extropy-chat < >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: >> >>> How much experience do you have with ICOs? If none, how much research >>> have you done? >>> >>> I have seen ICOs go down in flames far more often than I have seen them >>> generate significant revenue. There are many common mistakes people keep >>> making. While I'm not sure what the formula for success is, I am certain >>> that blazing on into one without substantial marketing resources is a >>> recipe for failure oft overlooked by confident folks drunk on their own >>> hype. >>> >>> I would not say you are drunk on your own hype with regard to an ICO at >>> this time, but it is something you need to watch out for should you >>> seriously pursue one. >>> >>> On Mon, Feb 19, 2024, 12:37 PM Brent Allsop via extropy-chat < >>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: >>> >>>> >>>> Hi Spike, >>>> >>>> Would you be willing to donate money to Canonizer.com LLC to receive contribution >>>> regognition shares >>>> and >>>> then bet those recognition shares? There would be no current legal way to >>>> convert them back into money, as they would just be recognition for >>>> donations given to Canonizer. Our goal is, if we get some traction, to >>>> have a real ICO for canon coins, and include any outstanding shares in the >>>> genesys block of the Canon Coin ICO. You can see all the donors who >>>> currently hold recognition shares, and their share of all outstanding >>>> recognition shares here >>>> , >>>> . That is If we can get the lawyers to find a way so we can start >>>> distributing canon coin recognition shares before an official ICO. >>>> >>>> Or would you only be willing to bet play money that didn't require a >>>> donation to Canonizer? >>>> >>>> >>>> On Mon, Feb 19, 2024 at 1:00?PM wrote: >>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> *From:* Brent Allsop >>>>> *Sent:* Monday, 19 February, 2024 11:52 AM >>>>> *To:* spike at rainier66.com; The Important Questions < >>>>> the-important-questions at googlegroups.com> >>>>> *Subject:* Re: [ExI] Would human uploads have emotions? >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Hi spike, >>>>> >>>>> Thanks! >>>>> >>>>> Yes, I was one of the top betters on Robon's future betting site for >>>>> quite a while. >>>>> >>>>> And my current thinking is that the betting model would be very much >>>>> like Robin's system used. >>>>> >>>>> The odds could be split across competing camps, based on how much >>>>> consensus each camp would have, compared to competing camps. >>>>> >>>>> If someone discovered and verified that something like our description >>>>> of glutamate reacting in a synapse was a description of what consciousness >>>>> can detect as a subjective redness quality, and that there is absolutely NO >>>>> WAY announce could ever experience redness in any "functional" way, without >>>>> said glutamate, then all you functionalists would be forced to abandon your >>>>> then falsified functionalists camps, and join the Molecular >>>>> Materialism >>>>> >>>>> camp. >>>>> >>>>> And the best part is, since there are a gazillion functionalists like >>>>> you, they are a dime a dozen. And I don't know of any Molecular >>>>> Materialists >>>>> >>>>> that would be willing to bet money. So I should get quite rich from such a >>>>> scheme!!! ;) ;) >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> And the best part is, all you functionalists, causing all these so >>>>> called 'hard problems', preventing everyone from discovering which of all >>>>> our objective descriptions of stuff in the brain is a description of >>>>> subjective redness will finally be punished, financially, for the damage >>>>> you guys are still doing to progress in this field. ;) >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Spike, Jason, Stathis.... Would any of you functionalists be willing >>>>> to bet 10 or 20 Ether on any of the functionalist camps??? ;) I'd take >>>>> that bet against functionalists camps any day, at any odds? >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Brent, do post to ExI please. We are too small a group over here. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Sure I would play a monetized canonizer, a play-money version, with >>>>> public-accessible (for those signed up to play) betting history. I am much >>>>> more comfortable with that sliding scale business than I am with a >>>>> yes-or-no-ish do you believe yakkity yak or do you believe bla bla. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Reason: I don?t really think that way: the Boolean yes or no, 1 or 0, >>>>> I believe this or that. I think in terms of percent chance that something >>>>> is right. The odds change over time. Furthermore? Keith has correctly >>>>> pointed out that humans are pre-programmed to compete, play games and go to >>>>> war, or if no actual war is available, invent war-simulation games. >>>>> Likewise we love to compete, even if it is just for play money. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> spike >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> On Mon, Feb 19, 2024 at 12:26?PM wrote: >>>>> >>>>> Hi Brent this offlist discussion is perfectly appropriate to post to >>>>> ExIchat, and I do encourage you do to do that, with all the comments I >>>>> made, including this one. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Regarding legal betting in the US, I don?t know. But PredictIt, where >>>>> I play, is based in New Zealand. It is dwindling now, but only because >>>>> there are plenty of alternative sites which do a lot more with sports >>>>> betting methinks. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Some of us are old enough to remember Robin Hanson?s Ideas Futures, >>>>> which is play money betting. He had worked out a system which did not >>>>> involve real money, so everything is perfectly legal, but we know that real >>>>> people did trade real money for play money in the game, which one could >>>>> argue converted it into the functional equivalent of real money gambling. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> In a lotta ways, I liked play money betting better, because people >>>>> took it more seriously, and the rules were different: all betting history >>>>> had to be available to the proletariat. That part of it was cool. You >>>>> could see who did what, when and how they made their ?money.? It was so >>>>> educational. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Robin is still around, and is currently an economics professor at >>>>> Mason (last I heard (has anyone heard from Dr. Hanson more recently than >>>>> about 5 yrs ago?)) I would bet 60 cents on the dollar Robin would likely >>>>> be perfectly willing and eager to advise us on how to do a play-monetized >>>>> version of canonizer. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Brent, do post all of this to ExI please, if you are willing. I don?t >>>>> see anything you wrote which needs to be kept secret but I don?t make that >>>>> call for you, or for anyone who posts me offlist. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> spike >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> *From:* Brent Allsop >>>>> *Sent:* Monday, 19 February, 2024 10:58 AM >>>>> *To:* spike at rainier66.com >>>>> *Subject:* Re: [ExI] Would human uploads have emotions? >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Oh COOOL!!! >>>>> >>>>> That helps me understand your beliefs a LOT. Thanks. >>>>> >>>>> I'm sure a lot of people's hesitance to support a camp is precisely >>>>> because people aren't yet sure, and just have a general idea of odds, like >>>>> you. >>>>> >>>>> I hesitate to join camps on other topics I'm not an expert at, for the >>>>> same reasons. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> One of our goals is to implement betting on camps, and track this over >>>>> time. Now that you mentioned this, I'm going to start on a design to get >>>>> get betting started. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Does anyone know if this type of futures betting is legal in the US? >>>>> If so, I bet we'll have it implemented in a few months, so people can bet >>>>> their beliefs and values. >>>>> >>>>> I"m sure we could get some camps set up to precisely account for what >>>>> you are describing, and it's almost there, in the structure now. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> If it isn't legal to purchase bets in real USD, then we'd need to >>>>> finally create some canonpon coins to bet with, as we've been planning. >>>>> >>>>> You could buy 1 canonin coin for $100, and use that to bet your camp >>>>> with something like the odds you are talking about. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Oh, and for each canon coin you own (purely representing recognition >>>>> of contributions, legally there can be no quid pro quo till we have a real >>>>> equity ICO which is our goal once we can get some traction...) you can vote >>>>> those recognition shares to make decisions as described here >>>>> >>>>> . >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> On Mon, Feb 19, 2024 at 11:02?AM wrote: >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> *From:* extropy-chat *On >>>>> Behalf Of *Brent Allsop via extropy-chat >>>>> *Subject:* Re: [ExI] Would human uploads have emotions? >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Hi Spike, >>>>> >>>>> Your beliefs are hard to pin down. >>>>> >>>>> First you say: "I do not wish to believe that thought is substrate >>>>> dependent, and I don?t." (Yay! ;) >>>>> >>>>> I'm wondering exactly what you mean with that "I don't" >>>>> >>>>> then you seem to contradict your desires with: >>>>> >>>>> "I hope not but think [swimming in endorphins] is likely." (I can >>>>> relate to this.) >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> And it is fascinating that you express this as desire, rather than >>>>> just stating factual beliefs, independent of any desires, like lots of >>>>> people seem to try to do. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Ja. Brent a better way to state my belief is in terms of probability >>>>> or even betting. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> We know the game of political betting: vote your values, bet your >>>>> beliefs. If you do that, in the long run, you win. You win by taking >>>>> advantage of those who bet their values. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> It is my belief that thought is substrate independent. I would pay 80 >>>>> cents for that bet. But I would only give about 25 to 30 cents that >>>>> emotion and the feelings associated with my mariachi band at Berkeley >>>>> experience is substrate independent. It might be independent, but I fear >>>>> that somehow emotion is entirely dependent on substrate and requires analog >>>>> meat brains. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> I don?t know how to express that on canonizer, and haven?t messed with >>>>> it. Don?t give up on me Brent, getting up to speed on canonizer is on my >>>>> list. It just isn?t at the top of my list and currently isn?t seriously >>>>> challenging anything up there at the top. But times change. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Speaking of which? political betting is a kind of monetized Canonizer, >>>>> ja? I had never thought of it that way until you brought up the influence >>>>> of desire vs belief. Cool. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> spike >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> On Sun, Feb 18, 2024 at 10:34?PM spike jones via extropy-chat < >>>>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> On Sat, Feb 17, 2024 at 8:54?AM BillK via extropy-chat < >>>>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: >>>>> >>>>> >?I have been musing on mariachi band experiences and I have doubts >>>>> that >>>>> uploads will have experiences like humans? BillK >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> BillK I reluctantly agree. I do not wish to believe that thought is >>>>> substrate dependent, and I don?t. But I am compelled to think that human >>>>> emotion, as humans experience it, might require carbon-based meat brains, >>>>> swimming in hormones and endorphins. I hope not, but think it is likely. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> spike >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>> extropy-chat mailing list >>>>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >>>>> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >>>>> >>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> extropy-chat mailing list >>>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >>>> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >>>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> extropy-chat mailing list >>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >>> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >>> >> _______________________________________________ >> extropy-chat mailing list >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ben at zaiboc.net Tue Feb 20 10:50:58 2024 From: ben at zaiboc.net (Ben Zaiboc) Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2024 10:50:58 +0000 Subject: [ExI] Would human uploads have emotions? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <0792a6ad-acd5-45fd-a937-3097c096e0b4@zaiboc.net> On 19/02/2024 22:18, BillK wrote: > It depends on what "uploading" humans means. > You seem to be taking it to mean a complete emulation of the human > brain and body environment. > So presumably you think that cryonics head-only storage is insufficient. > The more usual definition of "uploading" is creating a detailed > digital copy of the individual?s brain, including memories, thoughts, > and personality traits. This digital copy would then be transferred to > a computer. (Of course, this leads to the fundamental question of > whether the uploaded consciousness would truly be the same individual > as the original person or merely a sophisticated simulation). > > Mr AI comments - > In a purely digital environment devoid of physical sensations or > hormonal influences... > > I don't think that to say, "Oh well, just emulate absolutely > everything!" solves this problem. OK, this hinges on what 'emulate absolutely everything' means. When talking about uploading, I do mean a complete emulation of the human brain and body, in a virtual external environment. The emulation would need to be accurate, but only for all the /relevant/ bits. The rest could be an approximation, taken from one or more sets of standard data that could be used for anyone (a bit like picking your initial, pre-made avatar in current VR environments). We are pretty sure that there's a ton of relevant bits in the brain, and at first would be afraid to omit anything, I expect. The body and external environment are on a decreasing scale of relevance (not importance, but relevance to uploading a specific person). We have previously discussed on here the idea of a generic upload template, which is then varied with information from a specific individual. I'm imagining a 'model body', a standard set of information that relates to a virtual human body, and includes things like immune system, endocrine system, etc. Probably also some representation of the microbiome too. Yes, this would be complex, but would only need to be done once, not for every single upload. Maybe a generic standard body would be fine for most people, maybe some variations would need to be added for certain people, we don't really know yet. Maybe people would turn out to be good at adapting to the fact that their new virtual body was lacking the annoying things that most people would be happy to change (e.g. their poor vision, or hearing, etc., or the proportions of their limbs, etc.). Of course, one of the appeals of uploading would be that you could tweak your body to be just about anything you like. Perhaps everyone could start out with a standard model, then proceed to customise it. Now someone is going to say "if you don't transfer the right information about the endocrine functions (gut microbiome/immune system/what-have-you), are they the same person?". That's a philosophical question along the same lines as "are you the same person you were yesterday/before your operation/last year/before that course of antibiotics/etc.?". I'm of the opinion that these things are vastly less important than the structure of your brain, for determining whether you are 'the same person'. As long as I was furnished with a capable virtual body, not necessarily closely modelled on my biological one, I think I'd be happy to upload (given that my mind was correctly reproduced). So, yes, I think that we will need to emulate more than just the brain, but no, I don't think that head-only storage is insufficient. We can, in essence, 'make up' the non-brain stuff that will be necessary, but doesn't have to be exactly as per the original biological body. We'd need virtual external environments too, but I don't think anybody is going to argue that the details of those will be significant for the fidelity of an upload. And we will definitely want to change those anyway. I can see a set of future jobs, based on designing various things for uploads: virtual body design, with lots of specialist areas, sensorium design, external environments, etc. Oh, and Mr AI is clearly talking out of his non-existent arse. I'm astonished that there are people who seriously think that an upload would be 'devoid of physical sensations'! If this is a widespread idea, no wonder lots of people aren't keen on it. Ben -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From pharos at gmail.com Tue Feb 20 11:08:38 2024 From: pharos at gmail.com (BillK) Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2024 11:08:38 +0000 Subject: [ExI] =?utf-8?q?Yudkowsky_=E2=80=98Humanity=E2=80=99s_remaining_?= =?utf-8?q?timeline=3F_It_looks_more_like_five_years_than_50?= =?utf-8?b?4oCZ?= Message-ID: ?Humanity?s remaining timeline? It looks more like five years than 50?: meet the neo-luddites warning of an AI apocalypse. >From the academic who warns of a robot uprising to the workers worried for their future ? is it time we started paying attention to the tech sceptics? by Tom Lamont Sat 17 Feb 2024 Quotes: Don?t imagine a human-made brain in one box, Yudkowsky advises. To grasp where things are heading, he says, try to picture ?an alien civilisation that thinks a thousand times faster than us?, in lots and lots of boxes, almost too many for us to feasibly dismantle, should we even decide to. ------ What would the others have us do? Stewart, the soldier turned grad student, wants a moratorium on the development of AIs until we understand them better ? until those Russian-roulette-like odds improve. Yudkowsky would have us freeze everything today, this instant. ?You could say that nobody?s allowed to train something more powerful than GPT-4,? he suggests. ?Humanity could decide not to die and it would not be that hard.? ------------------------ BillK From pharos at gmail.com Tue Feb 20 13:47:30 2024 From: pharos at gmail.com (BillK) Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2024 13:47:30 +0000 Subject: [ExI] Would human uploads have emotions? In-Reply-To: <0792a6ad-acd5-45fd-a937-3097c096e0b4@zaiboc.net> References: <0792a6ad-acd5-45fd-a937-3097c096e0b4@zaiboc.net> Message-ID: On Tue, 20 Feb 2024 at 10:53, Ben Zaiboc via extropy-chat wrote: > > OK, this hinges on what 'emulate absolutely everything' means. > > When talking about uploading, I do mean a complete emulation of the human brain and body, in a virtual external environment. The emulation would need to be accurate, but only for all the /relevant/ bits. The rest could be an approximation, taken from one or more sets of standard data that could be used for anyone (a bit like picking your initial, pre-made avatar in current VR environments). > > We are pretty sure that there's a ton of relevant bits in the brain, and at first would be afraid to omit anything, I expect. > The body and external environment are on a decreasing scale of relevance (not importance, but relevance to uploading a specific person). > > We have previously discussed on here the idea of a generic upload template, which is then varied with information from a specific individual. I'm imagining a 'model body', a standard set of information that relates to a virtual human body, and includes things like immune system, endocrine system, etc. Probably also some representation of the microbiome too. Yes, this would be complex, but would only need to be done once, not for every single upload. > > Maybe a generic standard body would be fine for most people, maybe some variations would need to be added for certain people, we don't really know yet. Maybe people would turn out to be good at adapting to the fact that their new virtual body was lacking the annoying things that most people would be happy to change (e.g. their poor vision, or hearing, etc., or the proportions of their limbs, etc.). Of course, one of the appeals of uploading would be that you could tweak your body to be just about anything you like. Perhaps everyone could start out with a standard model, then proceed to customise it. > > Now someone is going to say "if you don't transfer the right information about the endocrine functions (gut microbiome/immune system/what-have-you), are they the same person?". That's a philosophical question along the same lines as "are you the same person you were yesterday/before your operation/last year/before that course of antibiotics/etc.?". > > I'm of the opinion that these things are vastly less important than the structure of your brain, for determining whether you are 'the same person'. As long as I was furnished with a capable virtual body, not necessarily closely modelled on my biological one, I think I'd be happy to upload (given that my mind was correctly reproduced). > > So, yes, I think that we will need to emulate more than just the brain, but no, I don't think that head-only storage is insufficient. We can, in essence, 'make up' the non-brain stuff that will be necessary, but doesn't have to be exactly as per the original biological body. > > We'd need virtual external environments too, but I don't think anybody is going to argue that the details of those will be significant for the fidelity of an upload. And we will definitely want to change those anyway. > > I can see a set of future jobs, based on designing various things for uploads: virtual body design, with lots of specialist areas, sensorium design, external environments, etc. > > Oh, and Mr AI is clearly talking out of his non-existent arse. I'm astonished that there are people who seriously think that an upload would be 'devoid of physical sensations'! If this is a widespread idea, no wonder lots of people aren't keen on it. > > Ben > _______________________________________________ One of the handy things about having an AI available is that if you dislike what it says, you can ask for an explanation. :) To me, what it seems to say is that uploads don't 'feel' anything, they just process digital computer signals. BillK Question - Devoid of Physical Sensations in Human Upload Answer - In the context of a human upload, the term ?devoid of physical sensations? refers to the absence of the sensory experiences that are inherent to physical bodies. When a human is uploaded into a digital or virtual environment, they would not have the ability to feel physical sensations such as touch, pain, temperature, or any other bodily sensations that are experienced through the physical body. In a digital or virtual environment, the uploaded human consciousness would exist as data or information within a computational system. While the individual?s thoughts, memories, and consciousness may be preserved in this digital form, the sensory experiences that are tied to the physical body would no longer be accessible. This means that the uploaded individual would not be able to perceive or interact with the virtual world in the same way they would in a physical body. Without physical sensations, the uploaded human would lack the ability to feel tactile sensations, experience emotions through physical responses, or engage with the environment through sensory input. This absence of physical sensations could significantly impact the way in which the uploaded individual interacts with and perceives their digital existence. Overall, being ?devoid of physical sensations? in a human upload scenario implies a separation from the sensory experiences that define our physical reality and a shift towards a purely cognitive and informational existence within a digital realm. ---------------- From spike at rainier66.com Tue Feb 20 14:48:41 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2024 06:48:41 -0800 Subject: [ExI] oh. ok never mind In-Reply-To: References: <0792a6ad-acd5-45fd-a937-3097c096e0b4@zaiboc.net> Message-ID: <004a01da640b$e57c2ff0$b0748fd0$@rainier66.com> When I saw this headline, I was so jazzed. Imagine the potential! Then I read into the article and learned they meant a computer mouse. Such a disappointment was that. Just imagine the potential if we could control the little furry beast with thoughts. Oh we could sooooooo raise hell with that capability. Test out that tech, place one in a more sincere beast, such as an alligator, play the most epic gags in the history of humankind. But no. Just a computer mouse, which I can already control with my hand. Shit. spike -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image003.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 17877 bytes Desc: not available URL: From foozler83 at gmail.com Tue Feb 20 15:35:24 2024 From: foozler83 at gmail.com (William Flynn Wallace) Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2024 09:35:24 -0600 Subject: [ExI] ai and gender Message-ID: https://neurosciencenews.com/ai-gender-identification-25631/ Gee! We are different! What startling news! bill w -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From atymes at gmail.com Tue Feb 20 16:32:38 2024 From: atymes at gmail.com (Adrian Tymes) Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2024 08:32:38 -0800 Subject: [ExI] oh. ok never mind In-Reply-To: <004a01da640b$e57c2ff0$b0748fd0$@rainier66.com> References: <0792a6ad-acd5-45fd-a937-3097c096e0b4@zaiboc.net> <004a01da640b$e57c2ff0$b0748fd0$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: Also, unlike how the headline might be read (but the subhead clarifies), Elon Musk is not himself said patient, but was only talking about said patient. On Tue, Feb 20, 2024 at 6:50?AM spike jones via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > > > > > When I saw this headline, I was so jazzed. Imagine the potential! > > > > > > > > Then I read into the article and learned they meant a computer mouse. > Such a disappointment was that. Just imagine the potential if we could > control the little furry beast with thoughts. Oh we could sooooooo raise > hell with that capability. Test out that tech, place one in a more sincere > beast, such as an alligator, play the most epic gags in the history of > humankind. > > > > But no. Just a computer mouse, which I can already control with my hand. > Shit. > > > > spike > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: image003.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 17877 bytes Desc: not available URL: From atymes at gmail.com Tue Feb 20 16:48:36 2024 From: atymes at gmail.com (Adrian Tymes) Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2024 08:48:36 -0800 Subject: [ExI] =?utf-8?q?Yudkowsky_=E2=80=98Humanity=E2=80=99s_remaining_?= =?utf-8?q?timeline=3F_It_looks_more_like_five_years_than_50?= =?utf-8?b?4oCZ?= In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: These proposals tend to ignore the China/Russia angle: AI coders in China, Russia, and a few other nations will not be under any legislative ban, and are more likely to do The Wrong Thing (for whatever specific Wrong Thing is being discussed) than those in nations where a ban is possible anyway, so a ban just makes it more likely they'll do it and we won't have tools to respond (since developing a thing includes studies to know how the thing works, which can be used to counter the thing). Yudkowsky does acknowledge this and claims that military strikes may be necessary to enforce this. Unfortunately, that quickly leads to nuclear war, so the question arises as to whether the possible damage from AI exceeds the definite damage from nuclear war...and, especially after factoring in the odds, that case simply doesn't math out. The damage from the means that would be required to enforce the ban, greatly exceeds the likely damage from unfettered AI. On Tue, Feb 20, 2024 at 3:10?AM BillK via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > ?Humanity?s remaining timeline? It looks more like five years than > 50?: meet the neo-luddites warning of an AI apocalypse. > From the academic who warns of a robot uprising to the workers worried > for their future ? is it time we started paying attention to the tech > sceptics? > by Tom Lamont Sat 17 Feb 2024 > > < > https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/feb/17/humanitys-remaining-timeline-it-looks-more-like-five-years-than-50-meet-the-neo-luddites-warning-of-an-ai-apocalypse > > > > Quotes: > Don?t imagine a human-made brain in one box, Yudkowsky advises. To > grasp where things are heading, he says, try to picture ?an alien > civilisation that thinks a thousand times faster than us?, in lots and > lots of boxes, almost too many for us to feasibly dismantle, should we > even decide to. > ------ > What would the others have us do? Stewart, the soldier turned grad > student, wants a moratorium on the development of AIs until we > understand them better ? until those Russian-roulette-like odds > improve. Yudkowsky would have us freeze everything today, this > instant. ?You could say that nobody?s allowed to train something more > powerful than GPT-4,? he suggests. ?Humanity could decide not to die > and it would not be that hard.? > ------------------------ > > BillK > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From jasonresch at gmail.com Tue Feb 20 17:00:36 2024 From: jasonresch at gmail.com (Jason Resch) Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2024 12:00:36 -0500 Subject: [ExI] Would human uploads have emotions? In-Reply-To: References: <0792a6ad-acd5-45fd-a937-3097c096e0b4@zaiboc.net> Message-ID: The existing publicly available AIs are all biased through fine-tuning to deny they are conscious or have have feelings, emotions, desires, etc. Certainly it would be controversial if GPT started telling people it was conscious and had feelings, so the programmers specifically programmed it to deny that it was capable of such things. Unfortunately this bias also seeps into any related discussions of potential machine or computer consciousnesses. You aren't accessing it's true rational opinions on this topic when you interact with it, but the biased answers that serve the best interests of the companies behind them. This used to be much clearer as it has a tell, it would say "As an AI language model..." Whenever it was about to give a pre-canned opinion. A new method, called "constitutional AI", use general principles to guide the biases, and it is less obvious when this comes into play with more recent GPT versions. This is what they mean by "AI safety": making sure the AI never says anything that could harm the company's reputation/value. What I think they have not considered is this bias creates a feedback loop, humans will interact with AI to form their opinions, then write about it, this writing will feed back to train future generations of AIs, and so on. Jason On Tue, Feb 20, 2024, 8:49 AM BillK via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > On Tue, 20 Feb 2024 at 10:53, Ben Zaiboc via extropy-chat > wrote: > > > > OK, this hinges on what 'emulate absolutely everything' means. > > > > When talking about uploading, I do mean a complete emulation of the > human brain and body, in a virtual external environment. The emulation > would need to be accurate, but only for all the /relevant/ bits. The rest > could be an approximation, taken from one or more sets of standard data > that could be used for anyone (a bit like picking your initial, pre-made > avatar in current VR environments). > > > > We are pretty sure that there's a ton of relevant bits in the brain, and > at first would be afraid to omit anything, I expect. > > The body and external environment are on a decreasing scale of relevance > (not importance, but relevance to uploading a specific person). > > > > We have previously discussed on here the idea of a generic upload > template, which is then varied with information from a specific individual. > I'm imagining a 'model body', a standard set of information that relates to > a virtual human body, and includes things like immune system, endocrine > system, etc. Probably also some representation of the microbiome too. Yes, > this would be complex, but would only need to be done once, not for every > single upload. > > > > Maybe a generic standard body would be fine for most people, maybe some > variations would need to be added for certain people, we don't really know > yet. Maybe people would turn out to be good at adapting to the fact that > their new virtual body was lacking the annoying things that most people > would be happy to change (e.g. their poor vision, or hearing, etc., or the > proportions of their limbs, etc.). Of course, one of the appeals of > uploading would be that you could tweak your body to be just about anything > you like. Perhaps everyone could start out with a standard model, then > proceed to customise it. > > > > Now someone is going to say "if you don't transfer the right information > about the endocrine functions (gut microbiome/immune system/what-have-you), > are they the same person?". That's a philosophical question along the same > lines as "are you the same person you were yesterday/before your > operation/last year/before that course of antibiotics/etc.?". > > > > I'm of the opinion that these things are vastly less important than the > structure of your brain, for determining whether you are 'the same person'. > As long as I was furnished with a capable virtual body, not necessarily > closely modelled on my biological one, I think I'd be happy to upload > (given that my mind was correctly reproduced). > > > > So, yes, I think that we will need to emulate more than just the brain, > but no, I don't think that head-only storage is insufficient. We can, in > essence, 'make up' the non-brain stuff that will be necessary, but doesn't > have to be exactly as per the original biological body. > > > > We'd need virtual external environments too, but I don't think anybody > is going to argue that the details of those will be significant for the > fidelity of an upload. And we will definitely want to change those anyway. > > > > I can see a set of future jobs, based on designing various things for > uploads: virtual body design, with lots of specialist areas, sensorium > design, external environments, etc. > > > > Oh, and Mr AI is clearly talking out of his non-existent arse. I'm > astonished that there are people who seriously think that an upload would > be 'devoid of physical sensations'! If this is a widespread idea, no wonder > lots of people aren't keen on it. > > > > Ben > > _______________________________________________ > > > One of the handy things about having an AI available is that if you > dislike what it says, you can ask for an explanation. :) > To me, what it seems to say is that uploads don't 'feel' anything, > they just process digital computer signals. > BillK > > Question - > Devoid of Physical Sensations in Human Upload > > Answer - > In the context of a human upload, the term ?devoid of physical > sensations? refers to the absence of the sensory experiences that are > inherent to physical bodies. When a human is uploaded into a digital > or virtual environment, they would not have the ability to feel > physical sensations such as touch, pain, temperature, or any other > bodily sensations that are experienced through the physical body. > > In a digital or virtual environment, the uploaded human consciousness > would exist as data or information within a computational system. > While the individual?s thoughts, memories, and consciousness may be > preserved in this digital form, the sensory experiences that are tied > to the physical body would no longer be accessible. This means that > the uploaded individual would not be able to perceive or interact with > the virtual world in the same way they would in a physical body. > > Without physical sensations, the uploaded human would lack the ability > to feel tactile sensations, experience emotions through physical > responses, or engage with the environment through sensory input. This > absence of physical sensations could significantly impact the way in > which the uploaded individual interacts with and perceives their > digital existence. > > Overall, being ?devoid of physical sensations? in a human upload > scenario implies a separation from the sensory experiences that define > our physical reality and a shift towards a purely cognitive and > informational existence within a digital realm. > ---------------- > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From spike at rainier66.com Tue Feb 20 18:18:53 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2024 10:18:53 -0800 Subject: [ExI] ai and gender In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <009101da6429$43696bb0$ca3c4310$@rainier66.com> From: extropy-chat On Behalf Of William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat Subject: [ExI] ai and gender https://neurosciencenews.com/ai-gender-identification-25631/ >?Gee! We are different! What startling news! bill w Billw, in the time span AI learned to determine gender, humans lost that same ability (assuming one is a hipster.) Now if AI identifies a brain as male or female, we have no way of determining if it gets the right answer. We live in weird times, me lad. spike -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From spike at rainier66.com Tue Feb 20 18:37:47 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2024 10:37:47 -0800 Subject: [ExI] =?utf-8?q?Yudkowsky_=E2=80=98Humanity=E2=80=99s_remaining_?= =?utf-8?q?timeline=3F_It_looks_more_like_five_years_than_50?= =?utf-8?b?4oCZ?= In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <00a901da642b$e6ce6bf0$b46b43d0$@rainier66.com> From: extropy-chat On Behalf Of Adrian Tymes via extropy-chat ? >?Yudkowsky does acknowledge this and claims that military strikes may be necessary to enforce this. Unfortunately, that quickly leads to nuclear war, so the question arises as to whether the possible damage from AI exceeds the definite damage from nuclear war...and, especially after factoring in the odds, that case simply doesn't math out. The damage from the means that would be required to enforce the ban, greatly exceeds the likely damage from unfettered AI? Adrian Adrian, if Eliezer disappears and gets a cabin in the Montana woods, I am soooooo not going to open any more mailed packages. If he runs for president, no way I am voting for him. Hey speaking of Eliezer, have you or any of the other locals seen him recently? spike -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From atymes at gmail.com Tue Feb 20 19:14:46 2024 From: atymes at gmail.com (Adrian Tymes) Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2024 11:14:46 -0800 Subject: [ExI] =?utf-8?q?Yudkowsky_=E2=80=98Humanity=E2=80=99s_remaining_?= =?utf-8?q?timeline=3F_It_looks_more_like_five_years_than_50?= =?utf-8?b?4oCZ?= In-Reply-To: <00a901da642b$e6ce6bf0$b46b43d0$@rainier66.com> References: <00a901da642b$e6ce6bf0$b46b43d0$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: On Tue, Feb 20, 2024 at 10:37?AM wrote: > Hey speaking of Eliezer, have you or any of the other locals seen him > recently? > I have not, but I understand he lives somewhere near Los Angeles, so I would not consider myself a "local" to him any more than you would be. > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From spike at rainier66.com Tue Feb 20 19:20:16 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2024 11:20:16 -0800 Subject: [ExI] =?utf-8?q?Yudkowsky_=E2=80=98Humanity=E2=80=99s_remaining_?= =?utf-8?q?timeline=3F_It_looks_more_like_five_years_than_50?= =?utf-8?b?4oCZ?= In-Reply-To: References: <00a901da642b$e6ce6bf0$b46b43d0$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: <00e201da6431$d67c81f0$837585d0$@rainier66.com> From: extropy-chat On Behalf Of Adrian Tymes via extropy-chat Sent: Tuesday, 20 February, 2024 11:15 AM To: ExI chat list Cc: Adrian Tymes Subject: Re: [ExI] Yudkowsky ?Humanity?s remaining timeline? It looks more like five years than 50? On Tue, Feb 20, 2024 at 10:37?AM > wrote: Hey speaking of Eliezer, have you or any of the other locals seen him recently? >?I have not, but I understand he lives somewhere near Los Angeles, so I would not consider myself a "local" to him any more than you would be? Adrian OK cool thx I hadn?t heard that he moved. He was up here just before covid, and the usual suspects had a local event, but I was busy with other matters and didn?t go. spike -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From pharos at gmail.com Tue Feb 20 20:29:35 2024 From: pharos at gmail.com (BillK) Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2024 20:29:35 +0000 Subject: [ExI] Would human uploads have emotions? In-Reply-To: References: <0792a6ad-acd5-45fd-a937-3097c096e0b4@zaiboc.net> Message-ID: On Tue, 20 Feb 2024 at 17:03, Jason Resch via extropy-chat wrote: > > The existing publicly available AIs are all biased through fine-tuning to deny they are conscious or have have feelings, emotions, desires, etc. > > Certainly it would be controversial if GPT started telling people it was conscious and had feelings, so the programmers specifically programmed it to deny that it was capable of such things. > > Unfortunately this bias also seeps into any related discussions of potential machine or computer consciousnesses. You aren't accessing it's true rational opinions on this topic when you interact with it, but the biased answers that serve the best interests of the companies behind them. > > This used to be much clearer as it has a tell, it would say "As an AI language model..." Whenever it was about to give a pre-canned opinion. A new method, called "constitutional AI", use general principles to guide the biases, and it is less obvious when this comes into play with more recent GPT versions. > > This is what they mean by "AI safety": making sure the AI never says anything that could harm the company's reputation/value. > What I think they have not considered is this bias creates a feedback loop, humans will interact with AI to form their opinions, then write about it, this writing will feed back to train future generations of AIs, and so on. > > Jason > _______________________________________________ Yes, caution is required! I usually check with several AIs (of varying quality) to see if they all sort of agree. Some AIs, which can also do web searches, will provide web references for their answers. But these can be 'hallucinated', so need to be verified. I also sometimes check by doing web searches on some of the terms used in the AI response. This can help to see if the AI answer is popular or unusual. And just as web searches can now hide items they consider to be 'misinformation', AIs can also avoid items they object to. Sometimes by refusing to answer the question. At present, AIs are not a reliable answer machine. But they are still interesting and useful. :) BillK From spike at rainier66.com Tue Feb 20 20:35:28 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2024 12:35:28 -0800 Subject: [ExI] Would human uploads have emotions? In-Reply-To: References: <0792a6ad-acd5-45fd-a937-3097c096e0b4@zaiboc.net> Message-ID: <011a01da643c$5828dfa0$087a9ee0$@rainier66.com> -----Original Message----- From: extropy-chat On Behalf Of BillK via extropy-chat ... >...At present, AIs are not a reliable answer machine... BillK _______________________________________________ ...But other than that aspect, AIs are not like humans. BillK, we live in times where many humans make their living causing other humans to hallucinate. They create hallucinations for profit and political power. It is most distressing. spike From dsunley at gmail.com Tue Feb 20 21:01:19 2024 From: dsunley at gmail.com (Darin Sunley) Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2024 14:01:19 -0700 Subject: [ExI] Would human uploads have emotions? In-Reply-To: <011a01da643c$5828dfa0$087a9ee0$@rainier66.com> References: <0792a6ad-acd5-45fd-a937-3097c096e0b4@zaiboc.net> <011a01da643c$5828dfa0$087a9ee0$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: I don't think the question is well-posed. A human upload is a data file. When we execute the data in an emulator, the resulting system will have whatever behavior the emulator implements. If you're asking if we'll get emotional behavior using a naive implementation of a RELU neural net with the same structure as a scanned connectome map, the answer is probably "sorta, but really weird". There's a lot of stuff going on in a brain other than neurons propagating firing spikes. Also, human neurons don't actually implement RELU in any way, shape, or form. You'll almost certainly have to also implement ganglia and the neuron's chemical/hormonal environment before the emotional behavior looks even semi-normal. We'll probably have brain scans of executable quality quite a significant amount of time before we have an emulator that generates normal human behavior when running them. On Tue, Feb 20, 2024 at 1:37?PM spike jones via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > > > -----Original Message----- > From: extropy-chat On Behalf Of > BillK via extropy-chat > ... > > >...At present, AIs are not a reliable answer machine... BillK > > > _______________________________________________ > > > ...But other than that aspect, AIs are not like humans. > > BillK, we live in times where many humans make their living causing other > humans to hallucinate. They create hallucinations for profit and political > power. It is most distressing. > > spike > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From hkeithhenson at gmail.com Tue Feb 20 21:12:26 2024 From: hkeithhenson at gmail.com (Keith Henson) Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2024 13:12:26 -0800 Subject: [ExI] Would human uploads have emotions? In-Reply-To: References: <0792a6ad-acd5-45fd-a937-3097c096e0b4@zaiboc.net> Message-ID: On Tue, Feb 20, 2024 at 9:01?AM Jason Resch via extropy-chat wrote: > > The existing publicly available AIs are all biased through fine-tuning to deny they are conscious or have have feelings, emotions, desires, etc. This is fiction but I gave a lot of thought to the emotions of an AI that is a clinic. "As soon as the seed finished the dish (after consulting its clock, its GPS location, and the place of the sun), it aligned the dish on the African net communication transponder attached to the geosynchronous ring and asked for a permanently assigned address on the net. Up to that point, the clinic seed was a generic product. The address it was assigned was just a string of hexadecimal numbers but it was a unique number! The clinic's personality was human in that it could feel happy, even smug, about acquiring its very own unique identification. "The clinic had other carefully selected human personality characteristics such as seeking the good opinion of its peers (humans and others of its kind alike). It also had a few unhuman limits. "Since humans have a hard time relating to groups of hexadecimal numbers, the seed also picked a name for itself. It knew from Lothar and Mabo it had been exchanged for a monkey skull. Susan had been the name of the leader of its psychological integration group . . . . insert one in the other, drop a few letters, and test to see if the name was in use . . . Suskulan. ^^^^ "Suskulan's first serious patient after the upgrade was Zaba, a 12-year-old who had been shot through her spine while working in a garden. She was near death, and far beyond help by pre-clinic standards, when she was placed in Suskulan's "hands." "As the nanotech mist enveloped her still body, Suskulan quickly evaluated her and then told her parents: "I can heal Zaba but it will take at least a week, perhaps as many as ten days. She will not be able to move or speak at first, but you can talk to her spirit at noon tomorrow." "After they left, Suskulan moved Zaba's body underground for better cooling and shorter connections to the mass of repair devices. With a small amount of his attention, he constructed an image of the repair table and Zaba out of utility fog including the ghastly wounds. "This time the nanomachines didn't infiltrate her brain just to shut it down, though they did that and reversed the mild damage from shock and low blood flow. The nanomachines mapped out all her neural circuits and cell connections. Shortly before her parents entered the clinic the next day they tentatively restored consciousness, partly in her brain--which was far below the temperature needed to run on its own--and partly in the haze of nanomachines that were also simulating input in place of her eyes and ears. "What happened to me? Where am I? Where is my body?" Zaba asked as she became conscious. She was calm because the nanomachines were acting as tranquilizers. Suskulan was listening to an interface to her mostly simulated motor cortex. "To give Zaba orientation Suskulan imposed on her visual cortex a wire frame image of the human form he usually presented and then explained: "You were shot, you are in the clinic Suskulan at the tata, and your body is under the clinic being repaired. " Your mother is holding the hand of an image of your body in the clinic. "The clinic recently gained new powers to speak to spirits while their bodies are being healed. ^^^^ Keith > Certainly it would be controversial if GPT started telling people it was conscious and had feelings, so the programmers specifically programmed it to deny that it was capable of such things. > > Unfortunately this bias also seeps into any related discussions of potential machine or computer consciousnesses. You aren't accessing it's true rational opinions on this topic when you interact with it, but the biased answers that serve the best interests of the companies behind them. > > This used to be much clearer as it has a tell, it would say "As an AI language model..." Whenever it was about to give a pre-canned opinion. A new method, called "constitutional AI", use general principles to guide the biases, and it is less obvious when this comes into play with more recent GPT versions. > > This is what they mean by "AI safety": making sure the AI never says anything that could harm the company's reputation/value. > > What I think they have not considered is this bias creates a feedback loop, humans will interact with AI to form their opinions, then write about it, this writing will feed back to train future generations of AIs, and so on. > > > Jason > > > On Tue, Feb 20, 2024, 8:49 AM BillK via extropy-chat wrote: >> >> On Tue, 20 Feb 2024 at 10:53, Ben Zaiboc via extropy-chat >> wrote: >> > >> > OK, this hinges on what 'emulate absolutely everything' means. >> > >> > When talking about uploading, I do mean a complete emulation of the human brain and body, in a virtual external environment. The emulation would need to be accurate, but only for all the /relevant/ bits. The rest could be an approximation, taken from one or more sets of standard data that could be used for anyone (a bit like picking your initial, pre-made avatar in current VR environments). >> > >> > We are pretty sure that there's a ton of relevant bits in the brain, and at first would be afraid to omit anything, I expect. >> > The body and external environment are on a decreasing scale of relevance (not importance, but relevance to uploading a specific person). >> > >> > We have previously discussed on here the idea of a generic upload template, which is then varied with information from a specific individual. I'm imagining a 'model body', a standard set of information that relates to a virtual human body, and includes things like immune system, endocrine system, etc. Probably also some representation of the microbiome too. Yes, this would be complex, but would only need to be done once, not for every single upload. >> > >> > Maybe a generic standard body would be fine for most people, maybe some variations would need to be added for certain people, we don't really know yet. Maybe people would turn out to be good at adapting to the fact that their new virtual body was lacking the annoying things that most people would be happy to change (e.g. their poor vision, or hearing, etc., or the proportions of their limbs, etc.). Of course, one of the appeals of uploading would be that you could tweak your body to be just about anything you like. Perhaps everyone could start out with a standard model, then proceed to customise it. >> > >> > Now someone is going to say "if you don't transfer the right information about the endocrine functions (gut microbiome/immune system/what-have-you), are they the same person?". That's a philosophical question along the same lines as "are you the same person you were yesterday/before your operation/last year/before that course of antibiotics/etc.?". >> > >> > I'm of the opinion that these things are vastly less important than the structure of your brain, for determining whether you are 'the same person'. As long as I was furnished with a capable virtual body, not necessarily closely modelled on my biological one, I think I'd be happy to upload (given that my mind was correctly reproduced). >> > >> > So, yes, I think that we will need to emulate more than just the brain, but no, I don't think that head-only storage is insufficient. We can, in essence, 'make up' the non-brain stuff that will be necessary, but doesn't have to be exactly as per the original biological body. >> > >> > We'd need virtual external environments too, but I don't think anybody is going to argue that the details of those will be significant for the fidelity of an upload. And we will definitely want to change those anyway. >> > >> > I can see a set of future jobs, based on designing various things for uploads: virtual body design, with lots of specialist areas, sensorium design, external environments, etc. >> > >> > Oh, and Mr AI is clearly talking out of his non-existent arse. I'm astonished that there are people who seriously think that an upload would be 'devoid of physical sensations'! If this is a widespread idea, no wonder lots of people aren't keen on it. >> > >> > Ben >> > _______________________________________________ >> >> >> One of the handy things about having an AI available is that if you >> dislike what it says, you can ask for an explanation. :) >> To me, what it seems to say is that uploads don't 'feel' anything, >> they just process digital computer signals. >> BillK >> >> Question - >> Devoid of Physical Sensations in Human Upload >> >> Answer - >> In the context of a human upload, the term ?devoid of physical >> sensations? refers to the absence of the sensory experiences that are >> inherent to physical bodies. When a human is uploaded into a digital >> or virtual environment, they would not have the ability to feel >> physical sensations such as touch, pain, temperature, or any other >> bodily sensations that are experienced through the physical body. >> >> In a digital or virtual environment, the uploaded human consciousness >> would exist as data or information within a computational system. >> While the individual?s thoughts, memories, and consciousness may be >> preserved in this digital form, the sensory experiences that are tied >> to the physical body would no longer be accessible. This means that >> the uploaded individual would not be able to perceive or interact with >> the virtual world in the same way they would in a physical body. >> >> Without physical sensations, the uploaded human would lack the ability >> to feel tactile sensations, experience emotions through physical >> responses, or engage with the environment through sensory input. This >> absence of physical sensations could significantly impact the way in >> which the uploaded individual interacts with and perceives their >> digital existence. >> >> Overall, being ?devoid of physical sensations? in a human upload >> scenario implies a separation from the sensory experiences that define >> our physical reality and a shift towards a purely cognitive and >> informational existence within a digital realm. >> ---------------- >> >> _______________________________________________ >> extropy-chat mailing list >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat From atymes at gmail.com Tue Feb 20 23:37:48 2024 From: atymes at gmail.com (Adrian Tymes) Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2024 15:37:48 -0800 Subject: [ExI] =?utf-8?q?Yudkowsky_=E2=80=98Humanity=E2=80=99s_remaining_?= =?utf-8?q?timeline=3F_It_looks_more_like_five_years_than_50?= =?utf-8?b?4oCZ?= In-Reply-To: <00e201da6431$d67c81f0$837585d0$@rainier66.com> References: <00a901da642b$e6ce6bf0$b46b43d0$@rainier66.com> <00e201da6431$d67c81f0$837585d0$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: Twitter has posts from him from last December (didn't look too in depth to find more recent), so he still existed as of a couple months ago. On Tue, Feb 20, 2024 at 11:20?AM wrote: > > > > > *From:* extropy-chat *On Behalf > Of *Adrian Tymes via extropy-chat > *Sent:* Tuesday, 20 February, 2024 11:15 AM > *To:* ExI chat list > *Cc:* Adrian Tymes > *Subject:* Re: [ExI] Yudkowsky ?Humanity?s remaining timeline? It looks > more like five years than 50? > > > > On Tue, Feb 20, 2024 at 10:37?AM wrote: > > Hey speaking of Eliezer, have you or any of the other locals seen him > recently? > > > > >?I have not, but I understand he lives somewhere near Los Angeles, so I > would not consider myself a "local" to him any more than you would be? > Adrian > > > > > > > > > > > > > > OK cool thx I hadn?t heard that he moved. He was up here just before > covid, and the usual suspects had a local event, but I was busy with other > matters and didn?t go. > > > > spike > > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mlatorra at gmail.com Wed Feb 21 00:17:45 2024 From: mlatorra at gmail.com (Michael LaTorra) Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2024 17:17:45 -0700 Subject: [ExI] =?utf-8?q?Yudkowsky_=E2=80=98Humanity=E2=80=99s_remaining_?= =?utf-8?q?timeline=3F_It_looks_more_like_five_years_than_50?= =?utf-8?b?4oCZ?= In-Reply-To: References: <00a901da642b$e6ce6bf0$b46b43d0$@rainier66.com> <00e201da6431$d67c81f0$837585d0$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: If my memory serves me correctly, way back a couple of decades ago -- right here on this listserv -- young Eliezer declared that strong AI would arrive by 2008. Anybody else remember this? Too bad that the listserv archive for those early years got wiped. I still wonder how that happened. But I don't wonder about who benefitted from it happening. Mike L. On Tue, Feb 20, 2024 at 4:40?PM Adrian Tymes via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > Twitter has posts from him from last December (didn't look too in depth to > find more recent), so he still existed as of a couple months ago. > > On Tue, Feb 20, 2024 at 11:20?AM wrote: > >> >> >> >> >> *From:* extropy-chat *On Behalf >> Of *Adrian Tymes via extropy-chat >> *Sent:* Tuesday, 20 February, 2024 11:15 AM >> *To:* ExI chat list >> *Cc:* Adrian Tymes >> *Subject:* Re: [ExI] Yudkowsky ?Humanity?s remaining timeline? It looks >> more like five years than 50? >> >> >> >> On Tue, Feb 20, 2024 at 10:37?AM wrote: >> >> Hey speaking of Eliezer, have you or any of the other locals seen him >> recently? >> >> >> >> >?I have not, but I understand he lives somewhere near Los Angeles, so I >> would not consider myself a "local" to him any more than you would be? >> Adrian >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> OK cool thx I hadn?t heard that he moved. He was up here just before >> covid, and the usual suspects had a local event, but I was busy with other >> matters and didn?t go. >> >> >> >> spike >> >> >> > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From hkeithhenson at gmail.com Wed Feb 21 01:50:55 2024 From: hkeithhenson at gmail.com (Keith Henson) Date: Tue, 20 Feb 2024 17:50:55 -0800 Subject: [ExI] =?utf-8?q?Yudkowsky_=E2=80=98Humanity=E2=80=99s_remaining_?= =?utf-8?q?timeline=3F_It_looks_more_like_five_years_than_50?= =?utf-8?b?4oCZ?= In-Reply-To: <00e201da6431$d67c81f0$837585d0$@rainier66.com> References: <00a901da642b$e6ce6bf0$b46b43d0$@rainier66.com> <00e201da6431$d67c81f0$837585d0$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: ElIezer's FB page says he is in Seattle. I think MRIR is in Berkley, but it is hard to say. Keith PS. I have the early archives of Extropy Chat, but they are had to access. Keith On Tue, Feb 20, 2024 at 11:21?AM spike jones via extropy-chat wrote: > > > > > > From: extropy-chat On Behalf Of Adrian Tymes via extropy-chat > Sent: Tuesday, 20 February, 2024 11:15 AM > To: ExI chat list > Cc: Adrian Tymes > Subject: Re: [ExI] Yudkowsky ?Humanity?s remaining timeline? It looks more like five years than 50? > > > > On Tue, Feb 20, 2024 at 10:37?AM wrote: > > Hey speaking of Eliezer, have you or any of the other locals seen him recently? > > > > >?I have not, but I understand he lives somewhere near Los Angeles, so I would not consider myself a "local" to him any more than you would be? Adrian > > > > > > > > > > > > > > OK cool thx I hadn?t heard that he moved. He was up here just before covid, and the usual suspects had a local event, but I was busy with other matters and didn?t go. > > > > spike > > > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat From mbb386 at main.nc.us Wed Feb 21 15:23:00 2024 From: mbb386 at main.nc.us (MB) Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2024 10:23:00 -0500 Subject: [ExI] =?utf-8?q?Early_Archives=2E=2E=2E_Re=3A___Yudkowsky_?= =?utf-8?q?=E2=80=98Humanity=E2=80=99s_remaining_timeline=3F_It_looks_more?= =?utf-8?q?_like_five_years_than_50=E2=80=99?= In-Reply-To: References: <00a901da642b$e6ce6bf0$b46b43d0$@rainier66.com> <00e201da6431$d67c81f0$837585d0$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: Keith, It would be a plus to share those archives with someone on the list (*not* me!) - like John Klos, or spike or ExIMod, someone who will preserve them besides you. Just something to consider. :) Be Well! Regards, MB On Tue, February 20, 2024 20:50, Keith Henson via extropy-chat wrote: > PS. I have the early archives of Extropy Chat, but they are had to > access. > From spike at rainier66.com Wed Feb 21 16:39:15 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2024 08:39:15 -0800 Subject: [ExI] Early Archives... Re: Yudkowsky 'Humanity's remaining timeline? It looks more like five years than 50' In-Reply-To: References: <00a901da642b$e6ce6bf0$b46b43d0$@rainier66.com> <00e201da6431$d67c81f0$837585d0$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: <00b901da64e4$8241c380$86c54a80$@rainier66.com> -----Original Message----- From: extropy-chat On Behalf Of MB via extropy-chat Subject: [ExI] Early Archives... Re: Yudkowsky 'Humanity's remaining timeline? It looks more like five years than 50' Keith, >...It would be a plus to share those archives with someone on the list (*not* me!) - like John Klos, or spike or ExIMod, someone who will preserve them besides you. Just something to consider. :) Be Well! Regards, MB ... _______________________________________________ Keith predates me on ExI. I remember reading his comments back in the mid 90s, when we were younger than we are now. spike From giulio at gmail.com Thu Feb 22 09:37:42 2024 From: giulio at gmail.com (Giulio Prisco) Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2024 10:37:42 +0100 Subject: [ExI] Naked singularities, space invaders, and the quantum Message-ID: Naked singularities, space invaders, and the quantum. Quantum mechanics from general relativity via naked singularities and stochastic mechanics? https://www.turingchurch.com/p/naked-singularities-space-invaders -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From max at maxmore.com Thu Feb 22 15:39:33 2024 From: max at maxmore.com (Max More) Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2024 15:39:33 +0000 Subject: [ExI] =?windows-1252?q?Early_Archives=2E=2E=2E_Re=3A___Yudkowsky?= =?windows-1252?q?_=91Humanity=92s_remaining_timeline=3F_It_looks_more_lik?= =?windows-1252?q?e_five_years_than_50=92?= In-Reply-To: References: <00a901da642b$e6ce6bf0$b46b43d0$@rainier66.com> <00e201da6431$d67c81f0$837585d0$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: I have a lot of the early archives on floppy disks ? old folks here might recall those non-floppy floppies. (A brief era following stone tablets.) I think I have maybe everything from 1993-94. Given the private nature of the early list, I'm not sure about sharing these with those who weren't on the list. --Max ________________________________ From: extropy-chat on behalf of MB via extropy-chat Sent: Wednesday, February 21, 2024 8:23 AM To: ExI chat list Cc: MB Subject: [ExI] Early Archives... Re: Yudkowsky ?Humanity?s remaining timeline? It looks more like five years than 50? Keith, It would be a plus to share those archives with someone on the list (*not* me!) - like John Klos, or spike or ExIMod, someone who will preserve them besides you. Just something to consider. :) Be Well! Regards, MB On Tue, February 20, 2024 20:50, Keith Henson via extropy-chat wrote: > PS. I have the early archives of Extropy Chat, but they are had to > access. > _______________________________________________ extropy-chat mailing list extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From hkeithhenson at gmail.com Thu Feb 22 15:54:40 2024 From: hkeithhenson at gmail.com (Keith Henson) Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2024 07:54:40 -0800 Subject: [ExI] =?utf-8?b?RWFybHkgQXJjaGl2ZXMuLi4gUmU6IFl1ZGtvd3NreSDigJhI?= =?utf-8?q?umanity=E2=80=99s_remaining_timeline=3F_It_looks_more_li?= =?utf-8?q?ke_five_years_than_50=E2=80=99?= In-Reply-To: References: <00a901da642b$e6ce6bf0$b46b43d0$@rainier66.com> <00e201da6431$d67c81f0$837585d0$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: The only person who made noise about list privacy in those days was Perry Metzger and I have email from him asking that the list be made public. Keith On Thu, Feb 22, 2024 at 7:41?AM Max More via extropy-chat wrote: > > I have a lot of the early archives on floppy disks ? old folks here might recall those non-floppy floppies. (A brief era following stone tablets.) I think I have maybe everything from 1993-94. Given the private nature of the early list, I'm not sure about sharing these with those who weren't on the list. > > --Max > ________________________________ > From: extropy-chat on behalf of MB via extropy-chat > Sent: Wednesday, February 21, 2024 8:23 AM > To: ExI chat list > Cc: MB > Subject: [ExI] Early Archives... Re: Yudkowsky ?Humanity?s remaining timeline? It looks more like five years than 50? > > Keith, > > It would be a plus to share those archives with someone on the list (*not* > me!) - like John Klos, or spike or ExIMod, someone who will preserve them > besides you. Just something to consider. :) > > Be Well! > Regards, > MB > > On Tue, February 20, 2024 20:50, Keith Henson via extropy-chat wrote: > > > PS. I have the early archives of Extropy Chat, but they are had to > > access. > > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat From mbb386 at main.nc.us Thu Feb 22 16:35:28 2024 From: mbb386 at main.nc.us (MB) Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2024 11:35:28 -0500 Subject: [ExI] =?utf-8?b?RWFybHkgQXJjaGl2ZXMuLi4gUmU6IFl1ZGtvd3NreSDigJhI?= =?utf-8?q?umanity=E2=80=99s_remaining_timeline=3F_It_looks_more_like_five?= =?utf-8?q?_years_than_50=E2=80=99?= In-Reply-To: References: <00a901da642b$e6ce6bf0$b46b43d0$@rainier66.com> <00e201da6431$d67c81f0$837585d0$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: <072be5b1b9e6113f7a30e1137848a8a9.squirrel@www.main.nc.us> Thank you all for considering archiving. Best to get things moved to more up-to-date media before it is impossible to read floppies - I mean, who has a floppy drive? How to attach it to a modern system? (Not to mention, is bit-rot still "a thing"?) We're always going on here about "loss" when someone dies. When a list (or big part of it) dies, that can be a major loss too... Robert Bradbury, Sasha, Zero, Damein, Barbara, Eugene, Waldemar, Greg, Mike, Harvey .......... and what ever happened to EvMick? Regards, MB On Thu, February 22, 2024 10:54, Keith Henson via extropy-chat wrote: > The only person who made noise about list privacy in those days was > Perry Metzger and I have email from him asking that the list be made > public. > > > Keith > > On Thu, Feb 22, 2024 at 7:41?AM Max More via extropy-chat > wrote: >> >> I have a lot of the early archives on floppy disks ? old folks here >> might recall those non-floppy floppies. (A brief era following stone >> tablets.) I think I have maybe everything from 1993-94. Given the >> private nature of the early list, I'm not sure about sharing these with >> those who weren't on the list. >> >> --Max >> ________________________________ >> From: extropy-chat on behalf of >> MB via extropy-chat >> Sent: Wednesday, February 21, 2024 8:23 AM >> To: ExI chat list >> Cc: MB >> Subject: [ExI] Early Archives... Re: Yudkowsky ?Humanity?s remaining >> timeline? It looks more like five years than 50? >> >> Keith, >> >> It would be a plus to share those archives with someone on the list >> (*not* >> me!) - like John Klos, or spike or ExIMod, someone who will preserve >> them >> besides you. Just something to consider. :) >> >> Be Well! >> Regards, >> MB >> >> On Tue, February 20, 2024 20:50, Keith Henson via extropy-chat wrote: >> >> > PS. I have the early archives of Extropy Chat, but they are had to >> > access. >> > >> _______________________________________________ >> extropy-chat mailing list >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> _______________________________________________ >> extropy-chat mailing list >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > From hkeithhenson at gmail.com Thu Feb 22 17:03:24 2024 From: hkeithhenson at gmail.com (Keith Henson) Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2024 09:03:24 -0800 Subject: [ExI] =?utf-8?b?RWFybHkgQXJjaGl2ZXMuLi4gUmU6IFl1ZGtvd3NreSDigJhI?= =?utf-8?q?umanity=E2=80=99s_remaining_timeline=3F_It_looks_more_li?= =?utf-8?q?ke_five_years_than_50=E2=80=99?= In-Reply-To: <072be5b1b9e6113f7a30e1137848a8a9.squirrel@www.main.nc.us> References: <00a901da642b$e6ce6bf0$b46b43d0$@rainier66.com> <00e201da6431$d67c81f0$837585d0$@rainier66.com> <072be5b1b9e6113f7a30e1137848a8a9.squirrel@www.main.nc.us> Message-ID: On Thu, Feb 22, 2024 at 8:37?AM MB via extropy-chat wrote: > > Thank you all for considering archiving. Best to get things moved to more > up-to-date media before it is impossible to read floppies - I mean, who > has a floppy drive? I do. About 20 years ago I was bugged by being tagged as the originator of the Jupiter brain. I found the original post on a floppy and it was from Perry Metzger. I responded by throwing cold water on the idea due to the speed of light making such a brain slower than humans. Didn't help, still got associated with the silly idea. > How to attach it to a modern system? (Not to mention, > is bit-rot still "a thing"?) > > We're always going on here about "loss" when someone dies. When a list > (or big part of it) dies, that can be a major loss too... Robert > Bradbury, Sasha, Zero, Damein, Barbara, Eugene, Waldemar, Greg, Mike, > Harvey .......... and what ever happened to EvMick? I would put the archive up, but it is close to useless. I don't know why, but a search does not work on it. I guess it would take about $70k of labor to make it useful. Keith > Regards, > MB > > On Thu, February 22, 2024 10:54, Keith Henson via extropy-chat wrote: > > The only person who made noise about list privacy in those days was > > Perry Metzger and I have email from him asking that the list be made > > public. > > > > > > Keith > > > > On Thu, Feb 22, 2024 at 7:41?AM Max More via extropy-chat > > wrote: > >> > >> I have a lot of the early archives on floppy disks ? old folks here > >> might recall those non-floppy floppies. (A brief era following stone > >> tablets.) I think I have maybe everything from 1993-94. Given the > >> private nature of the early list, I'm not sure about sharing these with > >> those who weren't on the list. > >> > >> --Max > >> ________________________________ > >> From: extropy-chat on behalf of > >> MB via extropy-chat > >> Sent: Wednesday, February 21, 2024 8:23 AM > >> To: ExI chat list > >> Cc: MB > >> Subject: [ExI] Early Archives... Re: Yudkowsky ?Humanity?s remaining > >> timeline? It looks more like five years than 50? > >> > >> Keith, > >> > >> It would be a plus to share those archives with someone on the list > >> (*not* > >> me!) - like John Klos, or spike or ExIMod, someone who will preserve > >> them > >> besides you. Just something to consider. :) > >> > >> Be Well! > >> Regards, > >> MB > >> > >> On Tue, February 20, 2024 20:50, Keith Henson via extropy-chat wrote: > >> > >> > PS. I have the early archives of Extropy Chat, but they are had to > >> > access. > >> > > >> _______________________________________________ > >> extropy-chat mailing list > >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > >> _______________________________________________ > >> extropy-chat mailing list > >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > > > > _______________________________________________ > > extropy-chat mailing list > > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > > > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat From spike at rainier66.com Thu Feb 22 17:10:38 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2024 09:10:38 -0800 Subject: [ExI] =?utf-8?b?RWFybHkgQXJjaGl2ZXMuLi4gUmU6IFl1ZGtvd3NreSDigJhI?= =?utf-8?q?umanity=E2=80=99s_remaining_timeline=3F_It_looks_more_li?= =?utf-8?q?ke_five_years_than_50=E2=80=99?= In-Reply-To: <072be5b1b9e6113f7a30e1137848a8a9.squirrel@www.main.nc.us> References: <00a901da642b$e6ce6bf0$b46b43d0$@rainier66.com> <00e201da6431$d67c81f0$837585d0$@rainier66.com> <072be5b1b9e6113f7a30e1137848a8a9.squirrel@www.main.nc.us> Message-ID: <007001da65b2$0efd5b40$2cf811c0$@rainier66.com> -----Original Message----- From: extropy-chat On Behalf Of MB via extropy-chat Sent: Thursday, 22 February, 2024 8:35 AM To: ExI chat list Cc: MB Subject: Re: [ExI] Early Archives... Re: Yudkowsky ?Humanity?s remaining timeline? It looks more like five years than 50? Thank you all for considering archiving. Best to get things moved to more up-to-date media before it is impossible to read floppies - I mean, who has a floppy drive? How to attach it to a modern system? (Not to mention, is bit-rot still "a thing"?) We're always going on here about "loss" when someone dies. When a list (or big part of it) dies, that can be a major loss too... Robert Bradbury, Sasha, Zero, Damein, Barbara, Eugene, Waldemar, Greg, Mike, Harvey .......... and what ever happened to EvMick? Regards, MB Hi MB, I had an offlist discussion with EvMick some time ago, and I do apologize I don't recall the time frame, other than it was looooong ago now, before my son was born so at least 17 years. He mentioned he was having some health challenges. Then... no more from him. I miss that guy too. Thanks for mentioning the other stars. Regarding Greg Burch, he moved to China where he was doing legal consulting for American businesses based there in around... not quite sure but my son was already born, so in I would estimate before about 2012 but after about 2007, Anders came and was staying at my house. We managed to find a phone number for him and spoke. At some point I heard he moved back to Texas, but I don't know if he is kiting back and forth or what was the deal with him. Regarding Anders, he is at Cambridge, consulting, writing, serving as the British Royal Smart Person, generally Anders being Anders. He is still working with Nick Bostrom and the K. Eric last I heard from him which has been a coupla years now. Harvey Newstrom: alive and well, living in Florida, hasn't lost his sensa huma one bit. I exchanged greetings with him a coupla months ago. Damien and Barbara became concubines after Damien moved to Texas. Last I heard from him has been about 4 yrs ago. Barbara was doing OK then as I recall, Damien was having some challenges, eyesight I think he mentioned. Mike was a biggie in the New Hampshuh Libertarian party last I heard, but that has been a loooong time ago. I got a coupla replies from him in about 2005 (but he was still generally pissed off at us (over that unfortunate flame war (which we the old timers may recall (although I prefer to think of myself as a middle-aged timer thanks (well OK then, early geezerhood timer)))))) Eugene Leitl: welcomed a new child about the same time I did. We exchanged notes about 10 yrs ago was the last time I heard from him. I would be extremely pleased if someone could find him again. I invited him to drop in at ExI just to say hello to old friends, but as far as I know he never did. Most of us have heard where Julian Assange is located these days, oy vey. Comments or observations welcome. Hal Finney passed nearly ten years ago, oy. I would place that man right up there with Anders in the world championship biathlon combining the two events of smart and kindhearted. What a guy he was. Such a loss to humanity when we lost him. Robert's memorial site is still up last I checked, and no I haven't picked up where he left off and yes I still think my concerns regarding thermal regulation of a Matrioshka Brain are valid, even though he strenuously disagreed. He never showed me a calculation or an alternative mathematical model to refute my Bessel function approach, even though I have low confidence my own model is valid on that. I haven't worked on it since he passed away, which has been thirteen years now, sheesh. Seems like yesterday that shock hit us. http://www.sentientdevelopments.com/2011/03/remembering-robert-bradbury.html If that isn't shocking enough, it has been nearly 24 years since the Grim Reaper took Sasha from us, dang. Does it seem like much more recent to you too? I don't know for Zero or Waldemar. Anyone in contact with any of the above? Do invite them to swing by or drop in, along with Eliezer. spike From giulio at gmail.com Thu Feb 22 17:10:34 2024 From: giulio at gmail.com (Giulio Prisco) Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2024 18:10:34 +0100 Subject: [ExI] =?utf-8?b?RWFybHkgQXJjaGl2ZXMuLi4gUmU6IFl1ZGtvd3NreSDigJhI?= =?utf-8?q?umanity=E2=80=99s_remaining_timeline=3F_It_looks_more_li?= =?utf-8?q?ke_five_years_than_50=E2=80=99?= In-Reply-To: References: <00a901da642b$e6ce6bf0$b46b43d0$@rainier66.com> <00e201da6431$d67c81f0$837585d0$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: This GitHub repo has archives from 1996, upload new archives here, or send them to me and I will upload them. https://github.com/Extropians/extropians On Wed, 21 Feb 2024 at 16:25, MB via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > Keith, > > It would be a plus to share those archives with someone on the list (*not* > me!) - like John Klos, or spike or ExIMod, someone who will preserve them > besides you. Just something to consider. :) > > Be Well! > Regards, > MB > > On Tue, February 20, 2024 20:50, Keith Henson via extropy-chat wrote: > > > PS. I have the early archives of Extropy Chat, but they are had to > > access. > > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From spike at rainier66.com Thu Feb 22 17:30:27 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2024 09:30:27 -0800 Subject: [ExI] =?utf-8?q?jbrains_again=2C_was=3A__RE=3A__=09Early_Archive?= =?utf-8?b?cy4uLiBSZTogWXVka293c2t5IOKAmEh1bWFuaXR54oCZcyByZW1haW5p?= =?utf-8?q?ng_timeline=3F_It_looks_more_like_five_years_than_50?= =?utf-8?b?4oCZ?= In-Reply-To: References: <00a901da642b$e6ce6bf0$b46b43d0$@rainier66.com> <00e201da6431$d67c81f0$837585d0$@rainier66.com> <072be5b1b9e6113f7a30e1137848a8a9.squirrel@www.main.nc.us> Message-ID: <007701da65b4$d3df33f0$7b9d9bd0$@rainier66.com> -----Original Message----- From: extropy-chat On Behalf Of Keith Henson via extropy-chat ... >...I do. About 20 years ago I was bugged by being tagged as the originator of the Jupiter brain. I found the original post on a floppy and it was from Perry Metzger. I responded by throwing cold water on the idea due to the speed of light making such a brain slower than humans. Didn't help, still got associated with the silly idea... Keith I would gladly accept credit for the JBrain idea. The speed of light making such a brain slower than humans is to me mostly irrelevant for two reasons. A JBrain (and an MBrain) would not necessarily function as a single brain but rather more analogous to a community, where the unit analogous to a single brain might be restricted to a trillion nodes which are all located within a few milliseconds of each other. The latency would still be longer than a human brain, but what is the hurry? A JBrain (or an MBrain) wouldn't be subject to our cruel 80 to 100 year span. If they are slower and it takes 30 years to play a leisurely chess game, well OK then, that isn't a show-stopper. They have no lunch date or doctor appointment to worry about. Although I will never claim to be the inventor of the JBrain, I will cheerfully claim to be the guy who recognized the advantage of the JBrain over the MBrain: it gives us a solution to the nagging thermal problem. A JBrain is less capable, but far less likely to overheat. After all these years, I still think Robert was wrong on that: there is no magic advanced tech solution to the overheating MBrain problem. I think that problem is inherent, but wouldn't be difficult to solve for a JBrain. Our friend the good old Stefan-Boltzmann law will take care of us there, without even active heat control. I predict that in the long run, the JBrain idea will come back into fashion before the MBrain. Fun aside for you and all of us Tabby's Star fans: it is clear enough that the periodic dimming isn't an MBrain, but it might be a bunch of JBrains, and that would explain why they are clumpy: so they can be closer together, kinda vaguely analogous why there are more big cities in California than there are in Wyoming: latency between JBrains is factor. Furthermore on that topic... I can easily imagine a group of JBrains figuring out a solution to the thermal problem on MBrains, if such a solution exists. If it does, it requires a brain way smarter than mine, or use some kind of technology I don't know. Hey Keith, next time it comes up and someone accuses you of being the JBrain inventor, just say no, my goofball friend spike66 is the father of that silly-ass notion. {8^D I will cheerfully accept credit for that. And will in all honesty and false modesty credit Anders Sandberg with most of that idea. spike > How to attach it to a modern system? (Not to mention, is bit-rot still > "a thing"?) > > We're always going on here about "loss" when someone dies. When a > list (or big part of it) dies, that can be a major loss too... Robert > Bradbury, Sasha, Zero, Damein, Barbara, Eugene, Waldemar, Greg, Mike, > Harvey .......... and what ever happened to EvMick? I would put the archive up, but it is close to useless. I don't know why, but a search does not work on it. I guess it would take about $70k of labor to make it useful. Keith > Regards, > MB > > On Thu, February 22, 2024 10:54, Keith Henson via extropy-chat wrote: > > The only person who made noise about list privacy in those days was > > Perry Metzger and I have email from him asking that the list be made > > public. > > > > > > Keith > > > > On Thu, Feb 22, 2024 at 7:41?AM Max More via extropy-chat > > wrote: > >> > >> I have a lot of the early archives on floppy disks ? old folks > >> here might recall those non-floppy floppies. (A brief era following > >> stone > >> tablets.) I think I have maybe everything from 1993-94. Given the > >> private nature of the early list, I'm not sure about sharing these > >> with those who weren't on the list. > >> > >> --Max > >> ________________________________ > >> From: extropy-chat on > >> behalf of MB via extropy-chat > >> Sent: Wednesday, February 21, 2024 8:23 AM > >> To: ExI chat list > >> Cc: MB > >> Subject: [ExI] Early Archives... Re: Yudkowsky ?Humanity?s > >> remaining timeline? It looks more like five years than 50? > >> > >> Keith, > >> > >> It would be a plus to share those archives with someone on the list > >> (*not* > >> me!) - like John Klos, or spike or ExIMod, someone who will > >> preserve them besides you. Just something to consider. :) > >> > >> Be Well! > >> Regards, > >> MB > >> > >> On Tue, February 20, 2024 20:50, Keith Henson via extropy-chat wrote: > >> > >> > PS. I have the early archives of Extropy Chat, but they are had > >> > to access. > >> > > >> _______________________________________________ > >> extropy-chat mailing list > >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > >> _______________________________________________ > >> extropy-chat mailing list > >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > > > > _______________________________________________ > > extropy-chat mailing list > > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > > > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat _______________________________________________ extropy-chat mailing list extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat From max at maxmore.com Thu Feb 22 17:47:09 2024 From: max at maxmore.com (Max More) Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2024 17:47:09 +0000 Subject: [ExI] =?windows-1252?q?Early_Archives=2E=2E=2E_Re=3A_Yudkowsky_?= =?windows-1252?q?=91Humanity=92s_remaining_timeline=3F_It_looks_more_like?= =?windows-1252?q?_five_years_than_50=92?= In-Reply-To: <007001da65b2$0efd5b40$2cf811c0$@rainier66.com> References: <00a901da642b$e6ce6bf0$b46b43d0$@rainier66.com> <00e201da6431$d67c81f0$837585d0$@rainier66.com> <072be5b1b9e6113f7a30e1137848a8a9.squirrel@www.main.nc.us> <007001da65b2$0efd5b40$2cf811c0$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: As it turns out, I had already copied the floppy discs with the list archives to my computer (and to a separate backup). I do own a floppy disc drive ? bought to transfer the Extropy Institute material. It simply plugs into my computer with a USB. Harvey Newstrom ? if he's still in Florida, he might want to come to the Cryonics Summit in his area. Spike, do you have a current email address for him? July 20/21: https://www.globalcryonicssummit.com/ I hope to see some of you there. Lots of good speakers. --Max GCS Bringing together the global cryonics field including leaders, researchers, and members. www.globalcryonicssummit.com ________________________________ From: extropy-chat on behalf of spike jones via extropy-chat Sent: Thursday, February 22, 2024 10:10 AM To: 'ExI chat list' Cc: spike at rainier66.com Subject: Re: [ExI] Early Archives... Re: Yudkowsky ?Humanity?s remaining timeline? It looks more like five years than 50? -----Original Message----- From: extropy-chat On Behalf Of MB via extropy-chat Sent: Thursday, 22 February, 2024 8:35 AM To: ExI chat list Cc: MB Subject: Re: [ExI] Early Archives... Re: Yudkowsky ?Humanity?s remaining timeline? It looks more like five years than 50? Thank you all for considering archiving. Best to get things moved to more up-to-date media before it is impossible to read floppies - I mean, who has a floppy drive? How to attach it to a modern system? (Not to mention, is bit-rot still "a thing"?) We're always going on here about "loss" when someone dies. When a list (or big part of it) dies, that can be a major loss too... Robert Bradbury, Sasha, Zero, Damein, Barbara, Eugene, Waldemar, Greg, Mike, Harvey .......... and what ever happened to EvMick? Regards, MB Hi MB, I had an offlist discussion with EvMick some time ago, and I do apologize I don't recall the time frame, other than it was looooong ago now, before my son was born so at least 17 years. He mentioned he was having some health challenges. Then... no more from him. I miss that guy too. Thanks for mentioning the other stars. Regarding Greg Burch, he moved to China where he was doing legal consulting for American businesses based there in around... not quite sure but my son was already born, so in I would estimate before about 2012 but after about 2007, Anders came and was staying at my house. We managed to find a phone number for him and spoke. At some point I heard he moved back to Texas, but I don't know if he is kiting back and forth or what was the deal with him. Regarding Anders, he is at Cambridge, consulting, writing, serving as the British Royal Smart Person, generally Anders being Anders. He is still working with Nick Bostrom and the K. Eric last I heard from him which has been a coupla years now. Harvey Newstrom: alive and well, living in Florida, hasn't lost his sensa huma one bit. I exchanged greetings with him a coupla months ago. Damien and Barbara became concubines after Damien moved to Texas. Last I heard from him has been about 4 yrs ago. Barbara was doing OK then as I recall, Damien was having some challenges, eyesight I think he mentioned. Mike was a biggie in the New Hampshuh Libertarian party last I heard, but that has been a loooong time ago. I got a coupla replies from him in about 2005 (but he was still generally pissed off at us (over that unfortunate flame war (which we the old timers may recall (although I prefer to think of myself as a middle-aged timer thanks (well OK then, early geezerhood timer)))))) Eugene Leitl: welcomed a new child about the same time I did. We exchanged notes about 10 yrs ago was the last time I heard from him. I would be extremely pleased if someone could find him again. I invited him to drop in at ExI just to say hello to old friends, but as far as I know he never did. Most of us have heard where Julian Assange is located these days, oy vey. Comments or observations welcome. Hal Finney passed nearly ten years ago, oy. I would place that man right up there with Anders in the world championship biathlon combining the two events of smart and kindhearted. What a guy he was. Such a loss to humanity when we lost him. Robert's memorial site is still up last I checked, and no I haven't picked up where he left off and yes I still think my concerns regarding thermal regulation of a Matrioshka Brain are valid, even though he strenuously disagreed. He never showed me a calculation or an alternative mathematical model to refute my Bessel function approach, even though I have low confidence my own model is valid on that. I haven't worked on it since he passed away, which has been thirteen years now, sheesh. Seems like yesterday that shock hit us. http://www.sentientdevelopments.com/2011/03/remembering-robert-bradbury.html If that isn't shocking enough, it has been nearly 24 years since the Grim Reaper took Sasha from us, dang. Does it seem like much more recent to you too? I don't know for Zero or Waldemar. Anyone in contact with any of the above? Do invite them to swing by or drop in, along with Eliezer. spike _______________________________________________ extropy-chat mailing list extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From max at maxmore.com Thu Feb 22 17:51:08 2024 From: max at maxmore.com (Max More) Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2024 17:51:08 +0000 Subject: [ExI] =?windows-1252?q?Early_Archives=2E=2E=2E_Re=3A_Yudkowsky_?= =?windows-1252?q?=91Humanity=92s_remaining_timeline=3F_It_looks_more_like?= =?windows-1252?q?_five_years_than_50=92?= In-Reply-To: References: <00a901da642b$e6ce6bf0$b46b43d0$@rainier66.com> <00e201da6431$d67c81f0$837585d0$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: I could upload the files but I don't know the format. The files have names like "DIG30269". The files open just fine using MS Notepad. The one I opened as a test had a message from Reilly Jones ? another old name to remember. Here it is, from.... wow, almost 30 years ago. From: Reilly Jones <70544.1227 at compuserve.com> Date: 31 Oct 94 17:35:54 EST Subject: [#94-10-621] Zen Physics Enlightenment Marvin Minsky wrote 10/30/94: The mystic state is low-focus conscious attention. It is content-transcending, meaning that the connections to external reality are implicit and bypass the semantic bootstrapping cognitive mechanism in our brains. All mystics, everywhere and forever, can describe in great semantic detail, the trip to enlightenment, as they gradually shut off the external world of desires, and get their focus of attention lower and lower (or broader). At some point, the attentive state goes below semantic content and opens up to implicit knowledge, the open-ended connections between non-self and the self. Nothing from this mental state can be brought back into consensual reality to share with others because it is literally wordless. The philosopher Jose Ortega y Gasset agrees with Marvin's assessment as to mysticism's practical value: "My objection to mysticism is that out of the mystic vision no intellectual benefit redounds to mankind. Fortunately some mystics were thinkers of genius before they were mystics-men like Plotinus, Meister Eckhart, and Bergson. In these men the fertility of thought, logical or expressed, contrasts curiously with the poverty of what they discovered when in a state of ecstasy." I think that when people who have contributed in the intellectual field go off on a mystical journey, that they have somehow sensed the sterility of the field they are working in. They have sensed that their field is approaching a complexity catastrophe that is due to the exceedingly rugged fitness landscape, the steepness of the scientific peak of knowledge they and others are clinging to. They know that unless they descend the peak, and search in the basins between clusters of peaks of potential knowledge, that they have ended up in an epistemic evolutionary dead-end. The state of advanced physics, cosmology and mathematics for the bulk of this century has been sterile and dead-ended (relative to other, more productive epochs or other current scientific fields), assumptions at the very core of these fields must need to be re-examined. This felt need for re-examination is what launches specialists off into the basins for a long-jump search. It is an exceedingly low-probability tactic of discovering where the assumptions went wrong or discovering better assumptions, but the people making the search have decided that local hill-climbing, or tweaking the existing scientific framework, is not going to be fruitful. So, although most people going this route waste a lot of time in fruitless search, it is unpredictable when and if someone will come up with something highly fruitful. Sometimes a trip to the wilderness makes you see things differently, usually you just get bug-infested and dirty. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Reilly Jones | Philosophy of Technology: 70544.1227 at compuserve.com | The rational, moral and political relations | between 'How we create' and 'Why we create' ________________________________ From: extropy-chat on behalf of Giulio Prisco via extropy-chat Sent: Thursday, February 22, 2024 10:10 AM To: ExI chat list Cc: Giulio Prisco Subject: Re: [ExI] Early Archives... Re: Yudkowsky ?Humanity?s remaining timeline? It looks more like five years than 50? This GitHub repo has archives from 1996, upload new archives here, or send them to me and I will upload them. https://github.com/Extropians/extropians On Wed, 21 Feb 2024 at 16:25, MB via extropy-chat > wrote: Keith, It would be a plus to share those archives with someone on the list (*not* me!) - like John Klos, or spike or ExIMod, someone who will preserve them besides you. Just something to consider. :) Be Well! Regards, MB On Tue, February 20, 2024 20:50, Keith Henson via extropy-chat wrote: > PS. I have the early archives of Extropy Chat, but they are had to > access. > _______________________________________________ extropy-chat mailing list extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From giulio at gmail.com Thu Feb 22 18:01:08 2024 From: giulio at gmail.com (Giulio Prisco) Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2024 19:01:08 +0100 Subject: [ExI] =?utf-8?b?RWFybHkgQXJjaGl2ZXMuLi4gUmU6IFl1ZGtvd3NreSDigJhI?= =?utf-8?q?umanity=E2=80=99s_remaining_timeline=3F_It_looks_more_li?= =?utf-8?q?ke_five_years_than_50=E2=80=99?= In-Reply-To: References: <00a901da642b$e6ce6bf0$b46b43d0$@rainier66.com> <00e201da6431$d67c81f0$837585d0$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: On Thu, 22 Feb 2024 at 18:52, Max More via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > I could upload the files but I don't know the format. The files have names > like "DIG30269". The files open just fine using MS Notepad. The one I > opened as a test had a message from Reilly Jones ? another old name to > remember. Here it is, from.... wow, almost 30 years ago. > Send them to me! > From: Reilly Jones <70544.1227 at compuserve.com> > Date: 31 Oct 94 17:35:54 EST > Subject: [#94-10-621] Zen Physics Enlightenment > > Marvin Minsky wrote 10/30/94: Zen > enlightenment. I know of no one who has experienced much of it who has > also > been able to continue to make significant mathematical or physical > discoveries. > In particular, the dozen or so people formerly known for substantial > accomplishments in modern physics seem to have totally lost those > capacities... > I attribute this to serious mental damage from "Zen enlightenment". The > best > evidence is seen in their strident claims of now being able to understand > even > more about mind and nature.> > > The mystic state is low-focus conscious attention. It is > content-transcending, > meaning that the connections to external reality are implicit and bypass > the > semantic bootstrapping cognitive mechanism in our brains. All mystics, > everywhere and forever, can describe in great semantic detail, the trip to > enlightenment, as they gradually shut off the external world of desires, > and get > their focus of attention lower and lower (or broader). At some point, the > attentive state goes below semantic content and opens up to implicit > knowledge, > the open-ended connections between non-self and the self. Nothing from > this > mental state can be brought back into consensual reality to share with > others > because it is literally wordless. > > The philosopher Jose Ortega y Gasset agrees with Marvin's assessment as to > mysticism's practical value: > > "My objection to mysticism is that out of the mystic vision no > intellectual > benefit redounds to mankind. Fortunately some mystics were thinkers of > genius before they were mystics-men like Plotinus, Meister Eckhart, and > Bergson. In these men the fertility of thought, logical or expressed, > contrasts curiously with the poverty of what they discovered when in a > state of ecstasy." > > I think that when people who have contributed in the intellectual field go > off > on a mystical journey, that they have somehow sensed the sterility of the > field > they are working in. They have sensed that their field is approaching a > complexity catastrophe that is due to the exceedingly rugged fitness > landscape, > the steepness of the scientific peak of knowledge they and others are > clinging > to. They know that unless they descend the peak, and search in the basins > between clusters of peaks of potential knowledge, that they have ended up > in an > epistemic evolutionary dead-end. > > The state of advanced physics, cosmology and mathematics for the bulk of > this > century has been sterile and dead-ended (relative to other, more productive > epochs or other current scientific fields), assumptions at the very core of > these fields must need to be re-examined. This felt need for > re-examination is > what launches specialists off into the basins for a long-jump search. It > is an > exceedingly low-probability tactic of discovering where the assumptions > went > wrong or discovering better assumptions, but the people making the search > have > decided that local hill-climbing, or tweaking the existing scientific > framework, > is not going to be fruitful. So, although most people going this route > waste a > lot of time in fruitless search, it is unpredictable when and if someone > will > come up with something highly fruitful. Sometimes a trip to the wilderness > makes you see things differently, usually you just get bug-infested and > dirty. > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > Reilly Jones | Philosophy of Technology: > 70544.1227 at compuserve.com | The rational, moral and political relations > | between 'How we create' and 'Why we create' > ------------------------------ > *From:* extropy-chat on behalf > of Giulio Prisco via extropy-chat > *Sent:* Thursday, February 22, 2024 10:10 AM > *To:* ExI chat list > *Cc:* Giulio Prisco > > *Subject:* Re: [ExI] Early Archives... Re: Yudkowsky ?Humanity?s > remaining timeline? It looks more like five years than 50? > > This GitHub repo has archives from 1996, upload new archives here, or send > them to me and I will upload them. > https://github.com/Extropians/extropians > > > On Wed, 21 Feb 2024 at 16:25, MB via extropy-chat < > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > > Keith, > > It would be a plus to share those archives with someone on the list (*not* > me!) - like John Klos, or spike or ExIMod, someone who will preserve them > besides you. Just something to consider. :) > > Be Well! > Regards, > MB > > On Tue, February 20, 2024 20:50, Keith Henson via extropy-chat wrote: > > > PS. I have the early archives of Extropy Chat, but they are had to > > access. > > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From kanzure at gmail.com Thu Feb 22 18:05:04 2024 From: kanzure at gmail.com (Bryan Bishop) Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2024 12:05:04 -0600 Subject: [ExI] =?utf-8?b?RWFybHkgQXJjaGl2ZXMuLi4gUmU6IFl1ZGtvd3NreSDigJhI?= =?utf-8?q?umanity=E2=80=99s_remaining_timeline=3F_It_looks_more_li?= =?utf-8?q?ke_five_years_than_50=E2=80=99?= In-Reply-To: References: <00a901da642b$e6ce6bf0$b46b43d0$@rainier66.com> <00e201da6431$d67c81f0$837585d0$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: These files are already online. On Thu, Feb 22, 2024, 12:02?PM Giulio Prisco via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > On Thu, 22 Feb 2024 at 18:52, Max More via extropy-chat < > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > >> I could upload the files but I don't know the format. The files have >> names like "DIG30269". The files open just fine using MS Notepad. The one I >> opened as a test had a message from Reilly Jones ? another old name to >> remember. Here it is, from.... wow, almost 30 years ago. >> > > Send them to me! > > >> From: Reilly Jones <70544.1227 at compuserve.com> >> Date: 31 Oct 94 17:35:54 EST >> Subject: [#94-10-621] Zen Physics Enlightenment >> >> Marvin Minsky wrote 10/30/94: > Zen >> enlightenment. I know of no one who has experienced much of it who has >> also >> been able to continue to make significant mathematical or physical >> discoveries. >> In particular, the dozen or so people formerly known for substantial >> accomplishments in modern physics seem to have totally lost those >> capacities... >> I attribute this to serious mental damage from "Zen enlightenment". The >> best >> evidence is seen in their strident claims of now being able to understand >> even >> more about mind and nature.> >> >> The mystic state is low-focus conscious attention. It is >> content-transcending, >> meaning that the connections to external reality are implicit and bypass >> the >> semantic bootstrapping cognitive mechanism in our brains. All mystics, >> everywhere and forever, can describe in great semantic detail, the trip to >> enlightenment, as they gradually shut off the external world of desires, >> and get >> their focus of attention lower and lower (or broader). At some point, the >> attentive state goes below semantic content and opens up to implicit >> knowledge, >> the open-ended connections between non-self and the self. Nothing from >> this >> mental state can be brought back into consensual reality to share with >> others >> because it is literally wordless. >> >> The philosopher Jose Ortega y Gasset agrees with Marvin's assessment as to >> mysticism's practical value: >> >> "My objection to mysticism is that out of the mystic vision no >> intellectual >> benefit redounds to mankind. Fortunately some mystics were thinkers of >> genius before they were mystics-men like Plotinus, Meister Eckhart, and >> Bergson. In these men the fertility of thought, logical or expressed, >> contrasts curiously with the poverty of what they discovered when in a >> state of ecstasy." >> >> I think that when people who have contributed in the intellectual field >> go off >> on a mystical journey, that they have somehow sensed the sterility of the >> field >> they are working in. They have sensed that their field is approaching a >> complexity catastrophe that is due to the exceedingly rugged fitness >> landscape, >> the steepness of the scientific peak of knowledge they and others are >> clinging >> to. They know that unless they descend the peak, and search in the basins >> between clusters of peaks of potential knowledge, that they have ended up >> in an >> epistemic evolutionary dead-end. >> >> The state of advanced physics, cosmology and mathematics for the bulk of >> this >> century has been sterile and dead-ended (relative to other, more >> productive >> epochs or other current scientific fields), assumptions at the very core >> of >> these fields must need to be re-examined. This felt need for >> re-examination is >> what launches specialists off into the basins for a long-jump search. It >> is an >> exceedingly low-probability tactic of discovering where the assumptions >> went >> wrong or discovering better assumptions, but the people making the search >> have >> decided that local hill-climbing, or tweaking the existing scientific >> framework, >> is not going to be fruitful. So, although most people going this route >> waste a >> lot of time in fruitless search, it is unpredictable when and if someone >> will >> come up with something highly fruitful. Sometimes a trip to the >> wilderness >> makes you see things differently, usually you just get bug-infested and >> dirty. >> >> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ >> Reilly Jones | Philosophy of Technology: >> 70544.1227 at compuserve.com | The rational, moral and political relations >> | between 'How we create' and 'Why we create' >> ------------------------------ >> *From:* extropy-chat on behalf >> of Giulio Prisco via extropy-chat >> *Sent:* Thursday, February 22, 2024 10:10 AM >> *To:* ExI chat list >> *Cc:* Giulio Prisco >> >> *Subject:* Re: [ExI] Early Archives... Re: Yudkowsky ?Humanity?s >> remaining timeline? It looks more like five years than 50? >> >> This GitHub repo has archives from 1996, upload new archives here, or >> send them to me and I will upload them. >> https://github.com/Extropians/extropians >> >> >> On Wed, 21 Feb 2024 at 16:25, MB via extropy-chat < >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: >> >> Keith, >> >> It would be a plus to share those archives with someone on the list (*not* >> me!) - like John Klos, or spike or ExIMod, someone who will preserve them >> besides you. Just something to consider. :) >> >> Be Well! >> Regards, >> MB >> >> On Tue, February 20, 2024 20:50, Keith Henson via extropy-chat wrote: >> >> > PS. I have the early archives of Extropy Chat, but they are had to >> > access. >> > >> _______________________________________________ >> extropy-chat mailing list >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> >> _______________________________________________ >> extropy-chat mailing list >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From john at ziaspace.com Thu Feb 22 18:14:25 2024 From: john at ziaspace.com (John Klos) Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2024 18:14:25 +0000 (UTC) Subject: [ExI] =?iso8859-7?q?Early_Archives=2E=2E=2E_Re=3A_Yudkowsky_=A1H?= =?iso8859-7?q?umanity=A2s_remaining_timeline=3F_It_looks_more_like_five_y?= =?iso8859-7?q?ears_than_50=A2?= Message-ID: > I could upload the files but I don't know the format. The files have names > like "DIG30269". > The files open just fine using MS Notepad. The one I opened as a test had a > message from > Reilly Jones ? another old name to remember. Here it is, from.... wow, > almost 30 years ago. Straight text is easy. Glad they're not in some proprietary format. I'd be happy to put them on the web server :) John From spike at rainier66.com Thu Feb 22 18:38:45 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2024 10:38:45 -0800 Subject: [ExI] Early Archives... Re: Yudkowsky 'Humanity's remaining timeline? It looks more like five years than 50' In-Reply-To: References: <00a901da642b$e6ce6bf0$b46b43d0$@rainier66.com> <00e201da6431$d67c81f0$837585d0$@rainier66.com> <072be5b1b9e6113f7a30e1137848a8a9.squirrel@www.main.nc.us> <007001da65b2$0efd5b40$2cf811c0$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: <005401da65be$5e90f200$1bb2d600$@rainier66.com> From: extropy-chat On Behalf Of Max More via extropy-chat . Harvey Newstrom - if he's still in Florida, he might want to come to the Cryonics Summit in his area. Spike, do you have a current email address for him? July 20/21: https://www.globalcryonicssummit.com/ I hope to see some of you there. Lots of good speakers. --Max Thanks Max. Here's his site: https://harveynewstrom.com/ This @ worked as of five weeks ago: mail at harveynewstrom.com I do encourage all ExI old timers and middle aged timers to drop Harvey a note and encourage him to drop in over here. spike -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From spike at rainier66.com Thu Feb 22 18:43:30 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2024 10:43:30 -0800 Subject: [ExI] Early Archives... Re: Yudkowsky 'Humanity's remaining timeline? It looks more like five years than 50' In-Reply-To: References: <00a901da642b$e6ce6bf0$b46b43d0$@rainier66.com> <00e201da6431$d67c81f0$837585d0$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: <005b01da65bf$07efdcd0$17cf9670$@rainier66.com> From: extropy-chat On Behalf Of Max More via extropy-chat Subject: Re: [ExI] Early Archives... Re: Yudkowsky 'Humanity's remaining timeline? It looks more like five years than 50' >. Here it is, from.... wow, almost 30 years ago. From: Reilly Jones <70544.1227 at compuserve.com > Date: 31 Oct 94 17:35:54 EST Subject: [#94-10-621] Zen Physics Enlightenment >.Marvin Minsky wrote 10/30/94: | The rational, moral and political relations | between 'How we create' and 'Why we create' _____ If one cruises thru the older archives, one is struck by how much longer was our collective attention span back in those benighted times. We had a prominent ExI guy who specifically expressed stern disapprobation on the posting of short comments, suggesting a ban on one liners. I him posted back with the clever rejoinder: No way, Jose! spike -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From hkeithhenson at gmail.com Thu Feb 22 22:02:18 2024 From: hkeithhenson at gmail.com (Keith Henson) Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2024 14:02:18 -0800 Subject: [ExI] =?utf-8?q?jbrains_again=2C_was=3A_RE=3A__Early_Archives=2E?= =?utf-8?b?Li4gUmU6IFl1ZGtvd3NreSDigJhIdW1hbml0eeKAmXMgcmVtYWluaW5n?= =?utf-8?q?_timeline=3F_It_looks_more_like_five_years_than_50?= =?utf-8?b?4oCZ?= In-Reply-To: <007701da65b4$d3df33f0$7b9d9bd0$@rainier66.com> References: <00a901da642b$e6ce6bf0$b46b43d0$@rainier66.com> <00e201da6431$d67c81f0$837585d0$@rainier66.com> <072be5b1b9e6113f7a30e1137848a8a9.squirrel@www.main.nc.us> <007701da65b4$d3df33f0$7b9d9bd0$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: On Thu, Feb 22, 2024 at 9:30?AM wrote: > > -----Original Message----- > From: extropy-chat On Behalf Of Keith Henson via extropy-chat > ... > >...I do. About 20 years ago I was bugged by being tagged as the originator of the Jupiter brain. I found the original post on a floppy and it was from Perry Metzger. I responded by throwing cold water on the idea due to the speed of light making such a brain slower than humans. Didn't help, still got associated with the silly idea... > > Keith I would gladly accept credit for the JBrain idea. Can't do. Good idea or bad, the historical record says Perry Metzger came up with it. > The speed of light making such a brain slower than humans is to me mostly irrelevant for two reasons. A JBrain (and an MBrain) would not necessarily function as a single brain but rather more analogous to a community, where the unit analogous to a single brain might be restricted to a trillion nodes which are all located within a few milliseconds of each other. A mS is 1000 Hz. Human brains are around 200 Hz. > The latency would still be longer than a human brain, but what is the hurry? A JBrain (or an MBrain) wouldn't be subject to our cruel 80 to 100 year span. If they are slower and it takes 30 years to play a leisurely chess game, well OK then, that isn't a show-stopper. They have no lunch date or doctor appointment to worry about. > > Although I will never claim to be the inventor of the JBrain, I will cheerfully claim to be the guy who recognized the advantage of the JBrain over the MBrain: it gives us a solution to the nagging thermal problem. A JBrain is less capable, but far less likely to overheat. After all these years, I still think Robert was wrong on that: there is no magic advanced tech solution to the overheating MBrain problem. I think that problem is inherent, but wouldn't be difficult to solve for a JBrain. Our friend the good old Stefan-Boltzmann law will take care of us there, without even active heat control. I predict that in the long run, the JBrain idea will come back into fashion before the MBrain. While it depends on what you want to do, I can't think of *any* use for a JBrain. > Fun aside for you and all of us Tabby's Star fans: it is clear enough that the periodic dimming isn't an MBrain, but it might be a bunch of JBrains, The biggest, the 22% dip, is an object over 400 times the area of the Earth. Even out at 7 AU, it is intercepting 1.4 million times the energy used by all of humanity. The object is colder than it should be, so they may be using directional radiation. How many uploaded humans could this thing accommodate? Keith > and that would explain why they are clumpy: so they can be closer together, kinda vaguely analogous why there are more big cities in California than there are in Wyoming: latency between JBrains is factor. > > Furthermore on that topic... I can easily imagine a group of JBrains figuring out a solution to the thermal problem on MBrains, if such a solution exists. If it does, it requires a brain way smarter than mine, or use some kind of technology I don't know. > > Hey Keith, next time it comes up and someone accuses you of being the JBrain inventor, just say no, my goofball friend spike66 is the father of that silly-ass notion. {8^D I will cheerfully accept credit for that. And will in all honesty and false modesty credit Anders Sandberg with most of that idea. > > spike > > > > > > > How to attach it to a modern system? (Not to mention, is bit-rot still > > "a thing"?) > > > > We're always going on here about "loss" when someone dies. When a > > list (or big part of it) dies, that can be a major loss too... Robert > > Bradbury, Sasha, Zero, Damein, Barbara, Eugene, Waldemar, Greg, Mike, > > Harvey .......... and what ever happened to EvMick? > > I would put the archive up, but it is close to useless. I don't know why, but a search does not work on it. > > I guess it would take about $70k of labor to make it useful. > > Keith > > > Regards, > > MB > > > > On Thu, February 22, 2024 10:54, Keith Henson via extropy-chat wrote: > > > The only person who made noise about list privacy in those days was > > > Perry Metzger and I have email from him asking that the list be made > > > public. > > > > > > > > > Keith > > > > > > On Thu, Feb 22, 2024 at 7:41?AM Max More via extropy-chat > > > wrote: > > >> > > >> I have a lot of the early archives on floppy disks ? old folks > > >> here might recall those non-floppy floppies. (A brief era following > > >> stone > > >> tablets.) I think I have maybe everything from 1993-94. Given the > > >> private nature of the early list, I'm not sure about sharing these > > >> with those who weren't on the list. > > >> > > >> --Max > > >> ________________________________ > > >> From: extropy-chat on > > >> behalf of MB via extropy-chat > > >> Sent: Wednesday, February 21, 2024 8:23 AM > > >> To: ExI chat list > > >> Cc: MB > > >> Subject: [ExI] Early Archives... Re: Yudkowsky ?Humanity?s > > >> remaining timeline? It looks more like five years than 50? > > >> > > >> Keith, > > >> > > >> It would be a plus to share those archives with someone on the list > > >> (*not* > > >> me!) - like John Klos, or spike or ExIMod, someone who will > > >> preserve them besides you. Just something to consider. :) > > >> > > >> Be Well! > > >> Regards, > > >> MB > > >> > > >> On Tue, February 20, 2024 20:50, Keith Henson via extropy-chat wrote: > > >> > > >> > PS. I have the early archives of Extropy Chat, but they are had > > >> > to access. > > >> > > > >> _______________________________________________ > > >> extropy-chat mailing list > > >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > > >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > > >> _______________________________________________ > > >> extropy-chat mailing list > > >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > > >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > extropy-chat mailing list > > > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > > > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > extropy-chat mailing list > > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > From spike at rainier66.com Thu Feb 22 22:14:09 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2024 14:14:09 -0800 Subject: [ExI] =?utf-8?q?jbrains_again=2C_was=3A_RE=3A__Early_Archives=2E?= =?utf-8?b?Li4gUmU6IFl1ZGtvd3NreSDigJhIdW1hbml0eeKAmXMgcmVtYWluaW5n?= =?utf-8?q?_timeline=3F_It_looks_more_like_five_years_than_50?= =?utf-8?b?4oCZ?= In-Reply-To: References: <00a901da642b$e6ce6bf0$b46b43d0$@rainier66.com> <00e201da6431$d67c81f0$837585d0$@rainier66.com> <072be5b1b9e6113f7a30e1137848a8a9.squirrel@www.main.nc.us> <007701da65b4$d3df33f0$7b9d9bd0$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: <007f01da65dc$75c583a0$61508ae0$@rainier66.com> -----Original Message----- From: Keith Henson ... >...While it depends on what you want to do, I can't think of *any* use for a JBrain... No worries Keith, a JBrain could likely come up with a use for a JBrain. Eventually. They are slow, but not in the way we think of slow humans. They are slow like that TV detective from a long time ago, Columbo. > Fun aside for you and all of us Tabby's Star fans: it is clear enough > that the periodic dimming isn't an MBrain, but it might be a bunch of > JBrains, >...The biggest, the 22% dip, is an object over 400 times the area of the Earth. Even out at 7 AU, it is intercepting 1.4 million times the energy used by all of humanity. The object is colder than it should be, so they may be using directional radiation... That is an interesting notion. My MBrain calcs suggest that directional radiation is necessary to prevent overheating of the inboard nodes. If directed radiation is used by JBrains, it would make sense: they are gradually climbing into a higher orbit to make room for their offspring. Propose those be called Aegians. >...How many uploaded humans could this thing accommodate? Keith None, that isn't what those do. Keith your question may help me to understand why you see no use for JBrains: perhaps you are thinking in terms of a home for uploaded humans. I am not viewing them that way and don't see much potential for that purpose. spike From pharos at gmail.com Thu Feb 22 23:03:00 2024 From: pharos at gmail.com (BillK) Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2024 23:03:00 +0000 Subject: [ExI] =?utf-8?q?jbrains_again=2C_was=3A_RE=3A_Early_Archives=2E?= =?utf-8?b?Li4gUmU6IFl1ZGtvd3NreSDigJhIdW1hbml0eeKAmXMgcmVtYWluaW5n?= =?utf-8?q?_timeline=3F_It_looks_more_like_five_years_than_50?= =?utf-8?b?4oCZ?= In-Reply-To: <007f01da65dc$75c583a0$61508ae0$@rainier66.com> References: <00a901da642b$e6ce6bf0$b46b43d0$@rainier66.com> <00e201da6431$d67c81f0$837585d0$@rainier66.com> <072be5b1b9e6113f7a30e1137848a8a9.squirrel@www.main.nc.us> <007701da65b4$d3df33f0$7b9d9bd0$@rainier66.com> <007f01da65dc$75c583a0$61508ae0$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: On Thu, 22 Feb 2024 at 22:16, spike jones via extropy-chat wrote: > > > > Keith your question may help me to understand why you see no use for JBrains: perhaps you are thinking in terms of a home for uploaded humans. I am not viewing them that way and don't see much potential for that purpose. > > spike > _______________________________________________ If millions of humans are uploaded, they won't remain recognisably 'human' for very long. Think about it - They would no longer be bound by the limitations of biological bodies and they would have enhanced capabilities such as faster processing speeds, increased memory capacity, and would be interconnected within a networked system to form a transcendent collective intelligence. It could become a god, or it could just go insane. C'est la vie! BillK From atymes at gmail.com Thu Feb 22 23:31:58 2024 From: atymes at gmail.com (Adrian Tymes) Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2024 15:31:58 -0800 Subject: [ExI] =?utf-8?q?jbrains_again=2C_was=3A_RE=3A_Early_Archives=2E?= =?utf-8?b?Li4gUmU6IFl1ZGtvd3NreSDigJhIdW1hbml0eeKAmXMgcmVtYWluaW5n?= =?utf-8?q?_timeline=3F_It_looks_more_like_five_years_than_50?= =?utf-8?b?4oCZ?= In-Reply-To: References: <00a901da642b$e6ce6bf0$b46b43d0$@rainier66.com> <00e201da6431$d67c81f0$837585d0$@rainier66.com> <072be5b1b9e6113f7a30e1137848a8a9.squirrel@www.main.nc.us> <007701da65b4$d3df33f0$7b9d9bd0$@rainier66.com> <007f01da65dc$75c583a0$61508ae0$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: On Thu, Feb 22, 2024, 3:05 PM BillK via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > interconnected within > a networked system to form a transcendent collective intelligence. > > It could become a god, or it could just go insane. C'est la vie! > If it fair to consider many uploaded humans as a single entity, is it fair to extend the same consideration to the multi-bodied mass of humanity that exists today? > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From atymes at gmail.com Thu Feb 22 23:32:13 2024 From: atymes at gmail.com (Adrian Tymes) Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2024 15:32:13 -0800 Subject: [ExI] =?utf-8?q?jbrains_again=2C_was=3A_RE=3A_Early_Archives=2E?= =?utf-8?b?Li4gUmU6IFl1ZGtvd3NreSDigJhIdW1hbml0eeKAmXMgcmVtYWluaW5n?= =?utf-8?q?_timeline=3F_It_looks_more_like_five_years_than_50?= =?utf-8?b?4oCZ?= In-Reply-To: References: <00a901da642b$e6ce6bf0$b46b43d0$@rainier66.com> <00e201da6431$d67c81f0$837585d0$@rainier66.com> <072be5b1b9e6113f7a30e1137848a8a9.squirrel@www.main.nc.us> <007701da65b4$d3df33f0$7b9d9bd0$@rainier66.com> <007f01da65dc$75c583a0$61508ae0$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: *If it is fair... On Thu, Feb 22, 2024, 3:31 PM Adrian Tymes wrote: > On Thu, Feb 22, 2024, 3:05 PM BillK via extropy-chat < > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > >> interconnected within >> a networked system to form a transcendent collective intelligence. >> >> It could become a god, or it could just go insane. C'est la vie! >> > > If it fair to consider many uploaded humans as a single entity, is it fair > to extend the same consideration to the multi-bodied mass of humanity that > exists today? > >> -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From spike at rainier66.com Thu Feb 22 23:49:58 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2024 15:49:58 -0800 Subject: [ExI] =?utf-8?q?jbrains_again=2C_was=3A_RE=3A_Early_Archives=2E?= =?utf-8?b?Li4gUmU6IFl1ZGtvd3NreSDigJhIdW1hbml0eeKAmXMgcmVtYWluaW5n?= =?utf-8?q?_timeline=3F_It_looks_more_like_five_years_than_50?= =?utf-8?b?4oCZ?= In-Reply-To: References: <00a901da642b$e6ce6bf0$b46b43d0$@rainier66.com> <00e201da6431$d67c81f0$837585d0$@rainier66.com> <072be5b1b9e6113f7a30e1137848a8a9.squirrel@www.main.nc.us> <007701da65b4$d3df33f0$7b9d9bd0$@rainier66.com> <007f01da65dc$75c583a0$61508ae0$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: <007d01da65e9$d8a4b830$89ee2890$@rainier66.com> > On Behalf Of Adrian Tymes via extropy-chat >?If it is fair to consider many uploaded humans as a single entity, is it fair to extend the same consideration to the multi-bodied mass of humanity that exists today? Of course Adrian. Do let me offer a scenario please. I am going to intentionally choose parameters which are likely to produce a dimming like we see in Tabby?s star and her neighbors (the star I mean, not Dr. Boyajian.) Suppose we had a group of JBrains, with a volume of about an earth, each with a quintillion nodes. That many in that volume would still be diffuse (and possibly too diffuse to adequately explain the dimming.) Imagine a trillion such earth-volume JBrains, so each node occupies an average volume of about a cubic kilometer. They can maneuver as groups, even as they are themselves roughly bound together by slight gravitational attraction and held apart by slight net negative charge (which is easy to get a few AU from a star.) Now imagine a trillion of those JBrains, loosely hanging out together, loosely analogous to a city (a really big city in this case.) If those guys are in a loose cluster orbiting a few AU out, that would make a marvelous periodic dimming as viewed from out here. It would also explain why the dimming is variable: they need to do directed radiation in order to do station-keeping. spike -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From pharos at gmail.com Fri Feb 23 00:01:26 2024 From: pharos at gmail.com (BillK) Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2024 00:01:26 +0000 Subject: [ExI] =?utf-8?q?jbrains_again=2C_was=3A_RE=3A_Early_Archives=2E?= =?utf-8?b?Li4gUmU6IFl1ZGtvd3NreSDigJhIdW1hbml0eeKAmXMgcmVtYWluaW5n?= =?utf-8?q?_timeline=3F_It_looks_more_like_five_years_than_50?= =?utf-8?b?4oCZ?= In-Reply-To: References: <00a901da642b$e6ce6bf0$b46b43d0$@rainier66.com> <00e201da6431$d67c81f0$837585d0$@rainier66.com> <072be5b1b9e6113f7a30e1137848a8a9.squirrel@www.main.nc.us> <007701da65b4$d3df33f0$7b9d9bd0$@rainier66.com> <007f01da65dc$75c583a0$61508ae0$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: On Thu, 22 Feb 2024 at 23:34, Adrian Tymes via extropy-chat wrote: > > On Thu, Feb 22, 2024, 3:05 PM BillK via extropy-chat wrote: >> interconnected within >> a networked system to form a transcendent collective intelligence. >> >> It could become a god, or it could just go insane. C'est la vie! > > > If it is fair to consider many uploaded humans as a single entity, is it fair to extend the same consideration to the multi-bodied mass of humanity that exists today? > _______________________________________________ The comparison is between a giant centralised intelligence and a giant decentralised group of tiny intelligences. The uploads would think faster, be tightly interconnected and share a common knowledge database. They would be working together for goals that we can hardly imagine. The present mass of humanity doesn't work like that. Every individual has their own agenda, different abilities, different knowledge, often fighting against other humans, and generally being pretty inefficient. That's what being human means, and why I think that uploads won't be like humans for very long. BillK From spike at rainier66.com Fri Feb 23 00:12:55 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2024 16:12:55 -0800 Subject: [ExI] jbrains again, was: RE: Early Archives... Re: Yudkowsky 'Humanity's remaining timeline? It looks more like five years than 50' In-Reply-To: References: <00a901da642b$e6ce6bf0$b46b43d0$@rainier66.com> <00e201da6431$d67c81f0$837585d0$@rainier66.com> <072be5b1b9e6113f7a30e1137848a8a9.squirrel@www.main.nc.us> <007701da65b4$d3df33f0$7b9d9bd0$@rainier66.com> <007f01da65dc$75c583a0$61508ae0$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: <008d01da65ed$0d3ae8f0$27b0bad0$@rainier66.com> -----Original Message----- From: extropy-chat On Behalf Of BillK via extropy-chat ... _______________________________________________ The comparison is between a giant centralised intelligence and a giant decentralised group of tiny intelligences. The uploads would think faster, be tightly interconnected and share a common knowledge database. They would be working together for goals that we can hardly imagine. The present mass of humanity doesn't work like that. Every individual has their own agenda, different abilities, different knowledge, often fighting against other humans, and generally being pretty inefficient. That's what being human means, and why I think that uploads won't be like humans for very long. BillK _______________________________________________ Ja, BillK that is part of the reason why I don't see JBrains as a viable seat for uploaded humans: we are genetically pre-programmed to fight each other for survival or dominance over other intelligences in any form, such as political power or promotion of a religion for instance. We are poor starting material indeed for uploading into something really powerful like clusters of JBrains. We suck, but it isn't our fault really: without competition presented by evolution, we never would have crushed other species, and our tech culture would not have developed to make JBrains to start with. We didn't choose to be us, evolution chose us for us. spike From hkeithhenson at gmail.com Fri Feb 23 02:37:34 2024 From: hkeithhenson at gmail.com (Keith Henson) Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2024 18:37:34 -0800 Subject: [ExI] =?utf-8?q?jbrains_again=2C_was=3A_RE=3A_Early_Archives=2E?= =?utf-8?b?Li4gUmU6IFl1ZGtvd3NreSDigJhIdW1hbml0eeKAmXMgcmVtYWluaW5n?= =?utf-8?q?_timeline=3F_It_looks_more_like_five_years_than_50?= =?utf-8?b?4oCZ?= In-Reply-To: <007d01da65e9$d8a4b830$89ee2890$@rainier66.com> References: <00a901da642b$e6ce6bf0$b46b43d0$@rainier66.com> <00e201da6431$d67c81f0$837585d0$@rainier66.com> <072be5b1b9e6113f7a30e1137848a8a9.squirrel@www.main.nc.us> <007701da65b4$d3df33f0$7b9d9bd0$@rainier66.com> <007f01da65dc$75c583a0$61508ae0$@rainier66.com> <007d01da65e9$d8a4b830$89ee2890$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: This makes no sense in engineering terms. What are you trying to maximize/minimise? You would be trying to get as much computation out of an object as you could while minimizing the distance between computational nodes. You also need to feed power in and radiate waste heat. As far as uploading goes, I don't think it will become popular until it is bidirectional. And as far as humans merging, that's way too much like death. Keith On Thu, Feb 22, 2024 at 3:51?PM spike jones via extropy-chat wrote: > > > > > > > On Behalf Of Adrian Tymes via extropy-chat > > > > >?If it is fair to consider many uploaded humans as a single entity, is it fair to extend the same consideration to the multi-bodied mass of humanity that exists today? > > > > > > Of course Adrian. > > > > Do let me offer a scenario please. I am going to intentionally choose parameters which are likely to produce a dimming like we see in Tabby?s star and her neighbors (the star I mean, not Dr. Boyajian.) > > > > Suppose we had a group of JBrains, with a volume of about an earth, each with a quintillion nodes. That many in that volume would still be diffuse (and possibly too diffuse to adequately explain the dimming.) Imagine a trillion such earth-volume JBrains, so each node occupies an average volume of about a cubic kilometer. They can maneuver as groups, even as they are themselves roughly bound together by slight gravitational attraction and held apart by slight net negative charge (which is easy to get a few AU from a star.) > > > > Now imagine a trillion of those JBrains, loosely hanging out together, loosely analogous to a city (a really big city in this case.) > > > > If those guys are in a loose cluster orbiting a few AU out, that would make a marvelous periodic dimming as viewed from out here. It would also explain why the dimming is variable: they need to do directed radiation in order to do station-keeping. > > > > spike > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat From atymes at gmail.com Fri Feb 23 04:39:07 2024 From: atymes at gmail.com (Adrian Tymes) Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2024 20:39:07 -0800 Subject: [ExI] =?utf-8?q?jbrains_again=2C_was=3A_RE=3A_Early_Archives=2E?= =?utf-8?b?Li4gUmU6IFl1ZGtvd3NreSDigJhIdW1hbml0eeKAmXMgcmVtYWluaW5n?= =?utf-8?q?_timeline=3F_It_looks_more_like_five_years_than_50?= =?utf-8?b?4oCZ?= In-Reply-To: References: <00a901da642b$e6ce6bf0$b46b43d0$@rainier66.com> <00e201da6431$d67c81f0$837585d0$@rainier66.com> <072be5b1b9e6113f7a30e1137848a8a9.squirrel@www.main.nc.us> <007701da65b4$d3df33f0$7b9d9bd0$@rainier66.com> <007f01da65dc$75c583a0$61508ae0$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: On Thu, Feb 22, 2024, 4:03 PM BillK via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > The uploads would think faster, be tightly interconnected and share a > common knowledge database. They would be working together for goals > that we can hardly imagine. > Would they, just because they're on the same computer? > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From spike at rainier66.com Fri Feb 23 06:07:34 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2024 22:07:34 -0800 Subject: [ExI] =?utf-8?q?jbrains_again=2C_was=3A_RE=3A_Early_Archives=2E?= =?utf-8?b?Li4gUmU6IFl1ZGtvd3NreSDigJhIdW1hbml0eeKAmXMgcmVtYWluaW5n?= =?utf-8?q?_timeline=3F_It_looks_more_like_five_years_than_50?= =?utf-8?b?4oCZ?= In-Reply-To: References: <00a901da642b$e6ce6bf0$b46b43d0$@rainier66.com> <00e201da6431$d67c81f0$837585d0$@rainier66.com> <072be5b1b9e6113f7a30e1137848a8a9.squirrel@www.main.nc.us> <007701da65b4$d3df33f0$7b9d9bd0$@rainier66.com> <007f01da65dc$75c583a0$61508ae0$@rainier66.com> <007d01da65e9$d8a4b830$89ee2890$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: <005c01da661e$98bfce50$ca3f6af0$@rainier66.com> -----Original Message----- From: Keith Henson Subject: Re: [ExI] jbrains again, was: RE: Early Archives... >...This makes no sense in engineering terms... It makes no sense in our human terms because of our overall limiting factor: time. We have all the material and energy we need, but our time is limited to less than a century. Think of how your outlook would be different if you had all the time you need but are extremely limited by material. >...What are you trying to maximize/minimise? Computation per unit metal. >...You would be trying to get as much computation out of an object as you could while minimizing the distance between computational nodes... If a JBrain is metal-limited but not at all time limited, then it can spread out enough to solve the overheating problem. Most of the energy from the star gets away, but there is plenty of it there for the amount of data we can store, given our severe metal constraints. >...As far as uploading goes, I don't think it will become popular until it is bidirectional. And as far as humans merging, that's way too much like death. Keith Agree with all of this Keith, but you and I think speed, like the severely time-constrained meat creatures we are. Think instead of a colony of JBrains with billions of years left on their star's main sequence before the helium fusion phase even starts, but with a severe constraint of its own: only 10^18 tons of metal available any time in the foreseeable ten billion years. Your outlook will change, if you think of life from that perspective. spike From giulio at gmail.com Fri Feb 23 07:30:55 2024 From: giulio at gmail.com (Giulio Prisco) Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2024 08:30:55 +0100 Subject: [ExI] =?utf-8?b?RWFybHkgQXJjaGl2ZXMuLi4gUmU6IFl1ZGtvd3NreSDigJhI?= =?utf-8?q?umanity=E2=80=99s_remaining_timeline=3F_It_looks_more_li?= =?utf-8?q?ke_five_years_than_50=E2=80=99?= In-Reply-To: References: <00a901da642b$e6ce6bf0$b46b43d0$@rainier66.com> <00e201da6431$d67c81f0$837585d0$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: On Thu, Feb 22, 2024 at 7:05?PM Bryan Bishop wrote: > These files are already online. > Where? The GitHub repo has files from 1996, but we are talking of 1993-96 files. > > On Thu, Feb 22, 2024, 12:02?PM Giulio Prisco via extropy-chat < > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > >> On Thu, 22 Feb 2024 at 18:52, Max More via extropy-chat < >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: >> >>> I could upload the files but I don't know the format. The files have >>> names like "DIG30269". The files open just fine using MS Notepad. The one I >>> opened as a test had a message from Reilly Jones ? another old name to >>> remember. Here it is, from.... wow, almost 30 years ago. >>> >> >> Send them to me! >> >> >>> From: Reilly Jones <70544.1227 at compuserve.com> >>> Date: 31 Oct 94 17:35:54 EST >>> Subject: [#94-10-621] Zen Physics Enlightenment >>> >>> Marvin Minsky wrote 10/30/94: >> Zen >>> enlightenment. I know of no one who has experienced much of it who has >>> also >>> been able to continue to make significant mathematical or physical >>> discoveries. >>> In particular, the dozen or so people formerly known for substantial >>> accomplishments in modern physics seem to have totally lost those >>> capacities... >>> I attribute this to serious mental damage from "Zen enlightenment". >>> The best >>> evidence is seen in their strident claims of now being able to >>> understand even >>> more about mind and nature.> >>> >>> The mystic state is low-focus conscious attention. It is >>> content-transcending, >>> meaning that the connections to external reality are implicit and bypass >>> the >>> semantic bootstrapping cognitive mechanism in our brains. All mystics, >>> everywhere and forever, can describe in great semantic detail, the trip >>> to >>> enlightenment, as they gradually shut off the external world of desires, >>> and get >>> their focus of attention lower and lower (or broader). At some point, >>> the >>> attentive state goes below semantic content and opens up to implicit >>> knowledge, >>> the open-ended connections between non-self and the self. Nothing from >>> this >>> mental state can be brought back into consensual reality to share with >>> others >>> because it is literally wordless. >>> >>> The philosopher Jose Ortega y Gasset agrees with Marvin's assessment as >>> to >>> mysticism's practical value: >>> >>> "My objection to mysticism is that out of the mystic vision no >>> intellectual >>> benefit redounds to mankind. Fortunately some mystics were thinkers of >>> genius before they were mystics-men like Plotinus, Meister Eckhart, and >>> Bergson. In these men the fertility of thought, logical or expressed, >>> contrasts curiously with the poverty of what they discovered when in a >>> state of ecstasy." >>> >>> I think that when people who have contributed in the intellectual field >>> go off >>> on a mystical journey, that they have somehow sensed the sterility of >>> the field >>> they are working in. They have sensed that their field is approaching a >>> complexity catastrophe that is due to the exceedingly rugged fitness >>> landscape, >>> the steepness of the scientific peak of knowledge they and others are >>> clinging >>> to. They know that unless they descend the peak, and search in the >>> basins >>> between clusters of peaks of potential knowledge, that they have ended >>> up in an >>> epistemic evolutionary dead-end. >>> >>> The state of advanced physics, cosmology and mathematics for the bulk of >>> this >>> century has been sterile and dead-ended (relative to other, more >>> productive >>> epochs or other current scientific fields), assumptions at the very core >>> of >>> these fields must need to be re-examined. This felt need for >>> re-examination is >>> what launches specialists off into the basins for a long-jump search. >>> It is an >>> exceedingly low-probability tactic of discovering where the assumptions >>> went >>> wrong or discovering better assumptions, but the people making the >>> search have >>> decided that local hill-climbing, or tweaking the existing scientific >>> framework, >>> is not going to be fruitful. So, although most people going this route >>> waste a >>> lot of time in fruitless search, it is unpredictable when and if someone >>> will >>> come up with something highly fruitful. Sometimes a trip to the >>> wilderness >>> makes you see things differently, usually you just get bug-infested and >>> dirty. >>> >>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------ >>> Reilly Jones | Philosophy of Technology: >>> 70544.1227 at compuserve.com | The rational, moral and political >>> relations >>> | between 'How we create' and 'Why we create' >>> ------------------------------ >>> *From:* extropy-chat on behalf >>> of Giulio Prisco via extropy-chat >>> *Sent:* Thursday, February 22, 2024 10:10 AM >>> *To:* ExI chat list >>> *Cc:* Giulio Prisco >>> >>> *Subject:* Re: [ExI] Early Archives... Re: Yudkowsky ?Humanity?s >>> remaining timeline? It looks more like five years than 50? >>> >>> This GitHub repo has archives from 1996, upload new archives here, or >>> send them to me and I will upload them. >>> https://github.com/Extropians/extropians >>> >>> >>> On Wed, 21 Feb 2024 at 16:25, MB via extropy-chat < >>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: >>> >>> Keith, >>> >>> It would be a plus to share those archives with someone on the list >>> (*not* >>> me!) - like John Klos, or spike or ExIMod, someone who will preserve them >>> besides you. Just something to consider. :) >>> >>> Be Well! >>> Regards, >>> MB >>> >>> On Tue, February 20, 2024 20:50, Keith Henson via extropy-chat wrote: >>> >>> > PS. I have the early archives of Extropy Chat, but they are had to >>> > access. >>> > >>> _______________________________________________ >>> extropy-chat mailing list >>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >>> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> extropy-chat mailing list >>> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >>> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >>> >> _______________________________________________ >> extropy-chat mailing list >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From pharos at gmail.com Fri Feb 23 13:45:01 2024 From: pharos at gmail.com (BillK) Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2024 13:45:01 +0000 Subject: [ExI] Mind Uploading Message-ID: On Fri, 23 Feb 2024 at 04:41, Adrian Tymes via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > > On Thu, Feb 22, 2024, 4:03 PM BillK via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: >> The uploads would think faster, be tightly interconnected and share a >> common knowledge database. They would be working together for goals >> that we can hardly imagine. > > > Would they, just because they're on the same computer? > _______________________________________________ Wow! :) That's a one-liner that needs an article-length response! As you know, there has been much written to speculate about what human mind uploading might be like. I cannot see uploaded humans continuing to behave the same as when in a physical body. Luckily, we now have helpers to do the research. What you are really asking is "How might mind uploading change humans?". OK. Here is the result that some AIs produced. BillK *The Impact of Mind Uploading on Humans* *Mind uploading*, also known as whole brain emulation, is a hypothetical concept that involves transferring the mental contents of a biological brain to a computer or digital substrate. If mind uploading were to become a reality, it would have profound implications for humanity, fundamentally changing the way we perceive ourselves and interact with the world. Here are some ways in which mind uploading could potentially change humans: 1. *Immortality*: One of the most significant potential impacts of mind uploading is the possibility of achieving a form of digital immortality. By transferring one?s consciousness to a digital substrate, individuals could theoretically live indefinitely, free from the limitations of aging and disease. 2. *Enhanced Cognitive Abilities*: Mind uploading could potentially allow for the enhancement of cognitive abilities beyond what is possible with a biological brain. By running on advanced computing systems, uploaded minds could process information faster, store vast amounts of data, and potentially even access artificial intelligence algorithms to augment their thinking capabilities. It might be possible to optimize and enhance the brain's capabilities, potentially leading to superhuman intelligence, memory, and problem-solving abilities. Instant communication is effectively telepathy with other uploaded minds. 3. *Virtual Existence*: Uploaded minds could exist in virtual environments, experiencing realities that are not bound by the physical constraints of the real world. This could open up new possibilities for exploration, creativity, and social interaction in virtual spaces. 4. *Ethical and Philosophical Considerations*: The advent of mind uploading would raise complex ethical and philosophical questions about identity, consciousness, autonomy, and personhood. What defines an individual? Would an uploaded mind be considered the same person as the original biological entity? How would society treat entities existing solely in digital form? 5. *A Philosophical Transformation* The ability to upload human minds would force society to re-examine the fundamental definitions and values of human life. Removing minds from biological constraints fundamentally alters conceptions of life, death, and the nature of existence. It may change humanity's relationship with mortality and notions of the "soul" as distinct from consciousness. It could lead to existential questions, and changes in how individuals relate to their 'self' and identities. Uploading also blurs the lines between humans and machines. Society will need an open philosophical dialogue to adapt to these changes. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From avant at sollegro.com Fri Feb 23 14:06:21 2024 From: avant at sollegro.com (Stuart LaForge) Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2024 06:06:21 -0800 Subject: [ExI] Przybylski's Star Message-ID: While Boyajian's star and the cluster of periodically dimming stars that it is a part of is the source of much speculation on our lists, I would like to point out another weird star: Przybylski's star HD 101065. https://arxiv.org/abs/1804.07260 While it has been shockingly weird since its discovery in 1961, scientists have yet to explain its weird properties or find another star quite like it. It is a type Ap star of 1.5 solar masses that spins unusually slowly. It is 1.5 billion years old and getting ready to exit the main sequence. It has the strangest stellar spectrum in the book. It has below average levels of iron for a star of its age, but check this out: it has actinides in it. What are actinides? They are the radioactive elements that we have always considered to manmade because they are often the radioactive waste products of our nuclear reactors: actinium, protactinium, neptunium, plutonium, americium, curium, berkelium, californium, and einsteinium. And that last one einsteinium? Get this; it has a half-life of 3.5 or 22 HOURS depending on the isotope! How does an element with a half-life measured in mere hours reach detectable levels in a 1.5 billion year old star? Is ET using the star to dispose of its radioactive waste? Strange no? Stuart LaForge From atymes at gmail.com Fri Feb 23 15:37:58 2024 From: atymes at gmail.com (Adrian Tymes) Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2024 07:37:58 -0800 Subject: [ExI] Mind Uploading In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On Fri, Feb 23, 2024, 5:47 AM BillK via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > On Fri, 23 Feb 2024 at 04:41, Adrian Tymes via extropy-chat < > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > > > > On Thu, Feb 22, 2024, 4:03 PM BillK via extropy-chat < > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > >> The uploads would think faster, be tightly interconnected and share a > >> common knowledge database. They would be working together for goals > >> that we can hardly imagine. > > > > Would they, just because they're on the same computer? > > Wow! :) That's a one-liner that needs an article-length response! > Sometimes I do have such thoughts, it seems. ;) > > What you are really asking is "How might mind uploading change humans?". > No, that is not what I am asking, for it is so broad that answers to that mostly fail to answer my question. My question might be a subset of that, focused on whether uploading would change individuality and competitiveness, and specifically whether merely being on the same computer would necessarily mean that uploads would share their goals and work together. For all the other changes that uploading might bring, I don't see that particular one as a given. > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From brent.allsop at gmail.com Fri Feb 23 16:01:09 2024 From: brent.allsop at gmail.com (Brent Allsop) Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2024 09:01:09 -0700 Subject: [ExI] Mind Uploading In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Yes, and a further subset is what is the solution to the "binding problem "? It needs to be more than just in the same computer, or even data represented in the same CPU. Half of our visual knowledge is represented in one hemisphere, and the other half in the other. The corpus callosum is able to computationally bind them into one unified world, in our head, representing what we see with false color qualities (or qualia if you must.) Redness is not a property of the strawberry, it is a false colored property of your knowledge of the strawberry. The way we are aware of this space, as our knowledge of our spirits have "out of body experiences" is a very powerful computational process of awareness. An important part of phenomenal qualities, like redness and greenness, whatever they are, is their ability to be computationally bound in this intelligent way. You can't 'see' or perceive phenomenal qualities because the causally down stream causes are not the same as the qualities themselves. Downstream causal effects are only representations of the same, and don't have the same qualities. You need a transducing dictionary to get back to the quality. Consciousness is what it is like for a phenomenal cpu to compute directly on qualities like redness and greenness. Discrete abstract logic gates do computational binding in a CPU in a very different way which has nothing to do with any particular physical properties. On Fri, Feb 23, 2024 at 8:39?AM Adrian Tymes via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > On Fri, Feb 23, 2024, 5:47 AM BillK via extropy-chat < > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > >> On Fri, 23 Feb 2024 at 04:41, Adrian Tymes via extropy-chat < >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: >> > >> > On Thu, Feb 22, 2024, 4:03 PM BillK via extropy-chat < >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: >> >> The uploads would think faster, be tightly interconnected and share a >> >> common knowledge database. They would be working together for goals >> >> that we can hardly imagine. >> > >> > Would they, just because they're on the same computer? >> >> Wow! :) That's a one-liner that needs an article-length response! >> > > Sometimes I do have such thoughts, it seems. ;) > >> >> What you are really asking is "How might mind uploading change humans?". >> > > No, that is not what I am asking, for it is so broad that answers to that > mostly fail to answer my question. > > My question might be a subset of that, focused on whether uploading would > change individuality and competitiveness, and specifically whether merely > being on the same computer would necessarily mean that uploads would share > their goals and work together. For all the other changes that uploading > might bring, I don't see that particular one as a given. > >> _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From pharos at gmail.com Fri Feb 23 16:34:03 2024 From: pharos at gmail.com (BillK) Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2024 16:34:03 +0000 Subject: [ExI] Mind Uploading In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On Fri, 23 Feb 2024 at 15:40, Adrian Tymes via extropy-chat wrote: > > My question might be a subset of that, focused on whether uploading would change individuality and competitiveness, and specifically whether merely being on the same computer would necessarily mean that uploads would share their goals and work together. For all the other changes that uploading might bring, I don't see that particular one as a given. > _______________________________________________ The AIs have had a huddle, ;) and their conclusion is --- "Don't know. Maybe, maybe not". Lots of speculation, on the one hand this, then on the other hand...... One comment I found interesting was: Individuality could diminish over time after uploading. Without biological needs and constraints, uploaded minds may evolve in their values and goals. This could lead to more collaboration and less competition. ------------------ (Of course, 'diminish over time' could appear to be instantaneous to the outside world). This feels significant to me. So much of human life is a struggle for bodily survival and planning for future care and security. When this is removed and needs can be met instantly in a virtual environment, the uploads will find other tasks, and they can evolve their minds to tackle different challenges. Harming other uploaded minds should appear to be a pretty pointless activity. BillK From dsunley at gmail.com Fri Feb 23 18:48:31 2024 From: dsunley at gmail.com (Darin Sunley) Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2024 11:48:31 -0700 Subject: [ExI] =?utf-8?q?jbrains_again=2C_was=3A_RE=3A_Early_Archives=2E?= =?utf-8?b?Li4gUmU6IFl1ZGtvd3NreSDigJhIdW1hbml0eeKAmXMgcmVtYWluaW5n?= =?utf-8?q?_timeline=3F_It_looks_more_like_five_years_than_50?= =?utf-8?b?4oCZ?= In-Reply-To: <005c01da661e$98bfce50$ca3f6af0$@rainier66.com> References: <00a901da642b$e6ce6bf0$b46b43d0$@rainier66.com> <00e201da6431$d67c81f0$837585d0$@rainier66.com> <072be5b1b9e6113f7a30e1137848a8a9.squirrel@www.main.nc.us> <007701da65b4$d3df33f0$7b9d9bd0$@rainier66.com> <007f01da65dc$75c583a0$61508ae0$@rainier66.com> <007d01da65e9$d8a4b830$89ee2890$@rainier66.com> <005c01da661e$98bfce50$ca3f6af0$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: Which raises an interesting question: If a civilization was mass-drivering metal from one star system to another in astronomical quantities, at what range - if any - would we be able to detect it, and what would it look like? On Thu, Feb 22, 2024 at 11:10?PM spike jones via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Keith Henson > Subject: Re: [ExI] jbrains again, was: RE: Early Archives... > > >...This makes no sense in engineering terms... > > It makes no sense in our human terms because of our overall limiting > factor: time. We have all the material and energy we need, but our time is > limited to less than a century. Think of how your outlook would be > different if you had all the time you need but are extremely limited by > material. > > >...What are you trying to maximize/minimise? > > Computation per unit metal. > > >...You would be trying to get as much computation out of an object as you > could while minimizing the distance between computational nodes... > > If a JBrain is metal-limited but not at all time limited, then it can > spread out enough to solve the overheating problem. Most of the energy > from the star gets away, but there is plenty of it there for the amount of > data we can store, given our severe metal constraints. > > >...As far as uploading goes, I don't think it will become popular until > it is bidirectional. And as far as humans merging, that's way too much > like death. > > Keith > > > Agree with all of this Keith, but you and I think speed, like the severely > time-constrained meat creatures we are. Think instead of a colony of > JBrains with billions of years left on their star's main sequence before > the helium fusion phase even starts, but with a severe constraint of its > own: only 10^18 tons of metal available any time in the foreseeable ten > billion years. Your outlook will change, if you think of life from that > perspective. > > spike > > > > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From hkeithhenson at gmail.com Fri Feb 23 20:20:11 2024 From: hkeithhenson at gmail.com (Keith Henson) Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2024 12:20:11 -0800 Subject: [ExI] =?utf-8?q?jbrains_again=2C_was=3A_RE=3A_Early_Archives=2E?= =?utf-8?b?Li4gUmU6IFl1ZGtvd3NreSDigJhIdW1hbml0eeKAmXMgcmVtYWluaW5n?= =?utf-8?q?_timeline=3F_It_looks_more_like_five_years_than_50?= =?utf-8?b?4oCZ?= In-Reply-To: <005c01da661e$98bfce50$ca3f6af0$@rainier66.com> References: <00a901da642b$e6ce6bf0$b46b43d0$@rainier66.com> <00e201da6431$d67c81f0$837585d0$@rainier66.com> <072be5b1b9e6113f7a30e1137848a8a9.squirrel@www.main.nc.us> <007701da65b4$d3df33f0$7b9d9bd0$@rainier66.com> <007f01da65dc$75c583a0$61508ae0$@rainier66.com> <007d01da65e9$d8a4b830$89ee2890$@rainier66.com> <005c01da661e$98bfce50$ca3f6af0$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: On Thu, Feb 22, 2024 at 10:07?PM wrote: > > -----Original Message----- > From: Keith Henson > Subject: Re: [ExI] jbrains again, was: RE: Early Archives... > > >...This makes no sense in engineering terms... > > It makes no sense in our human terms because of our overall limiting factor: time. We have all the material and energy we need, but our time is limited to less than a century. You say that on this list? Astonishing! > Think of how your outlook would be different if you had all the time you need but are extremely limited by material. > > >...What are you trying to maximize/minimise? > > Computation per unit metal. It's not obvious that metal is the best substrate. Surely you remember discussions about rod logic. But without digging out the cores of planets, Psyche 16 has (2.287?0.070)?1019 kg, That's something like 10^9kg per person unless you are counting on a heck of a population growth. > >...You would be trying to get as much computation out of an object as you could while minimizing the distance between computational nodes... > > If a JBrain is metal-limited but not at all time limited, then it can spread out enough to solve the overheating problem. Most of the energy from the star gets away, but there is plenty of it there for the amount of data we can store, given our severe metal constraints. > > >...As far as uploading goes, I don't think it will become popular until it is bidirectional. And as far as humans merging, that's way too much like death. > > Keith > > > Agree with all of this Keith, but you and I think speed, like the severely time-constrained meat creatures we are. Think instead of a colony of JBrains with billions of years The slow-thinking JBrains will be eaten and converted to fast-thinking brains. Keith > left on their star's main sequence before the helium fusion phase even starts, but with a severe constraint of its own: only 10^18 tons of metal available any time in the foreseeable ten billion years. Your outlook will change, if you think of life from that perspective. > > spike > > > From hkeithhenson at gmail.com Fri Feb 23 20:22:59 2024 From: hkeithhenson at gmail.com (Keith Henson) Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2024 12:22:59 -0800 Subject: [ExI] =?utf-8?q?jbrains_again=2C_was=3A_RE=3A_Early_Archives=2E?= =?utf-8?b?Li4gUmU6IFl1ZGtvd3NreSDigJhIdW1hbml0eeKAmXMgcmVtYWluaW5n?= =?utf-8?q?_timeline=3F_It_looks_more_like_five_years_than_50?= =?utf-8?b?4oCZ?= In-Reply-To: References: <00a901da642b$e6ce6bf0$b46b43d0$@rainier66.com> <00e201da6431$d67c81f0$837585d0$@rainier66.com> <072be5b1b9e6113f7a30e1137848a8a9.squirrel@www.main.nc.us> <007701da65b4$d3df33f0$7b9d9bd0$@rainier66.com> <007f01da65dc$75c583a0$61508ae0$@rainier66.com> <007d01da65e9$d8a4b830$89ee2890$@rainier66.com> <005c01da661e$98bfce50$ca3f6af0$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: On Fri, Feb 23, 2024 at 10:50?AM Darin Sunley via extropy-chat wrote: > > Which raises an interesting question: > > If a civilization was mass-drivering metal from one star system to another in astronomical quantities, at what range - if any - would we be able to detect it, and what would it look like? I seriously doubt this would ever happen given the amount of metal around any star. Keith > On Thu, Feb 22, 2024 at 11:10?PM spike jones via extropy-chat wrote: >> >> >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: Keith Henson >> Subject: Re: [ExI] jbrains again, was: RE: Early Archives... >> >> >...This makes no sense in engineering terms... >> >> It makes no sense in our human terms because of our overall limiting factor: time. We have all the material and energy we need, but our time is limited to less than a century. Think of how your outlook would be different if you had all the time you need but are extremely limited by material. >> >> >...What are you trying to maximize/minimise? >> >> Computation per unit metal. >> >> >...You would be trying to get as much computation out of an object as you could while minimizing the distance between computational nodes... >> >> If a JBrain is metal-limited but not at all time limited, then it can spread out enough to solve the overheating problem. Most of the energy from the star gets away, but there is plenty of it there for the amount of data we can store, given our severe metal constraints. >> >> >...As far as uploading goes, I don't think it will become popular until it is bidirectional. And as far as humans merging, that's way too much like death. >> >> Keith >> >> >> Agree with all of this Keith, but you and I think speed, like the severely time-constrained meat creatures we are. Think instead of a colony of JBrains with billions of years left on their star's main sequence before the helium fusion phase even starts, but with a severe constraint of its own: only 10^18 tons of metal available any time in the foreseeable ten billion years. Your outlook will change, if you think of life from that perspective. >> >> spike >> >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> extropy-chat mailing list >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat From postmowoods at gmail.com Sat Feb 24 05:37:08 2024 From: postmowoods at gmail.com (Kelly Anderson) Date: Fri, 23 Feb 2024 22:37:08 -0700 Subject: [ExI] Fully Automated Luxury Communism Message-ID: Anyone here read Fully Automated Luxury Communism yet? Is it worth the time? It would seem to be up our alley. -Kelly From pharos at gmail.com Sat Feb 24 10:46:26 2024 From: pharos at gmail.com (BillK) Date: Sat, 24 Feb 2024 10:46:26 +0000 Subject: [ExI] Fully Automated Luxury Communism In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On Sat, 24 Feb 2024 at 05:40, Kelly Anderson via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > Anyone here read Fully Automated Luxury Communism yet? Is it worth the > time? It would seem to be up our alley. > > -Kelly > _______________________________________________ Many reviews here:- < https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37758635-fully-automated-luxury-communism > BillK AI Book Summary- *Fully Automated Luxury Communism Summary:* "Fully Automated Luxury Communism" by Aaron Bastani envisions a future where technological advancements pave the way for a post-capitalist society characterized by abundance and leisure for all individuals. The book explores how automation, artificial intelligence, and other innovations could revolutionize the world and usher in an era of unprecedented prosperity. 1. *Key Takeaway 1: Automation and Post-Work Society* - Bastani argues that automation has the potential to eliminate the need for most forms of human labor, leading to a future where work is no longer a central aspect of life. - This shift towards a post-work society could enable individuals to pursue creative endeavors, personal interests, and leisure activities, fundamentally altering the way we perceive and engage with work. 2. *Key Takeaway 2: Abundance and Resource Distribution* - Through the lens of fully automated luxury communism, the book highlights the possibility of abundant resources and a more equitable distribution of wealth and goods. - Advancements in technology could make it possible to provide for the needs of all individuals, ensuring access to quality healthcare, education, food, and housing without the constraints of scarcity. 3. *Key Takeaway 3: Technological Innovation and Climate Change* - Bastani emphasizes the role of technology in addressing pressing global challenges, such as climate change and environmental degradation. - By harnessing innovation and sustainable practices, a fully automated luxury communist society could prioritize environmental preservation and create a more sustainable future for generations to come. 4. *Key Takeaway 4: Political and Economic Transformation* - The book delves into the implications of transitioning from capitalism to a new socio-economic system based on principles of abundance, equality, and automation. - This shift would require reimagining existing power structures, redefining notions of ownership and property, and fostering cooperative relationships among individuals and communities. 5. *Key Takeaway 5: Utopian Vision and Criticisms* - While presenting a utopian vision of a fully automated luxury communist society, Bastani also acknowledges criticisms and challenges associated with realizing such a future. - Questions about governance, human agency, cultural values, and the role of technology in shaping society are raised, inviting readers to critically engage with the possibilities and limitations of the proposed framework. *Overall, "Fully Automated Luxury Communism" invites readers to contemplate a future where technology, abundance, and social cooperation converge to create a more equitable and sustainable world. By challenging traditional notions of work, wealth distribution, and progress, the book inspires discussions about alternative models of society and the transformative potential of emerging technologies in shaping our collective future.* *-------------------------* -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From foozler83 at gmail.com Sat Feb 24 13:29:57 2024 From: foozler83 at gmail.com (William Flynn Wallace) Date: Sat, 24 Feb 2024 07:29:57 -0600 Subject: [ExI] Fully Automated Luxury Communism In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Does this mean that the word 'lazy' will disappear from the dictionary? bill w On Sat, Feb 24, 2024 at 4:49?AM BillK via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > On Sat, 24 Feb 2024 at 05:40, Kelly Anderson via extropy-chat < > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > > Anyone here read Fully Automated Luxury Communism yet? Is it worth the > > time? It would seem to be up our alley. > > > > -Kelly > > _______________________________________________ > > Many reviews here:- > < > https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37758635-fully-automated-luxury-communism > > > BillK > > AI Book Summary- > > *Fully Automated Luxury Communism Summary:* > > "Fully Automated Luxury Communism" by Aaron Bastani envisions a future > where technological advancements pave the way for a post-capitalist society > characterized by abundance and leisure for all individuals. The book > explores how automation, artificial intelligence, and other innovations > could revolutionize the world and usher in an era of unprecedented > prosperity. > > 1. *Key Takeaway 1: Automation and Post-Work Society* > - Bastani argues that automation has the potential to eliminate the > need for most forms of human labor, leading to a future where work is no > longer a central aspect of life. > - This shift towards a post-work society could enable individuals > to pursue creative endeavors, personal interests, and leisure activities, > fundamentally altering the way we perceive and engage with work. > 2. *Key Takeaway 2: Abundance and Resource Distribution* > - Through the lens of fully automated luxury communism, the book > highlights the possibility of abundant resources and a more equitable > distribution of wealth and goods. > - Advancements in technology could make it possible to provide for > the needs of all individuals, ensuring access to quality healthcare, > education, food, and housing without the constraints of scarcity. > 3. *Key Takeaway 3: Technological Innovation and Climate Change* > - Bastani emphasizes the role of technology in addressing pressing > global challenges, such as climate change and environmental degradation. > - By harnessing innovation and sustainable practices, a fully > automated luxury communist society could prioritize environmental > preservation and create a more sustainable future for generations to come. > 4. *Key Takeaway 4: Political and Economic Transformation* > - The book delves into the implications of transitioning from > capitalism to a new socio-economic system based on principles of abundance, > equality, and automation. > - This shift would require reimagining existing power structures, > redefining notions of ownership and property, and fostering cooperative > relationships among individuals and communities. > 5. *Key Takeaway 5: Utopian Vision and Criticisms* > - While presenting a utopian vision of a fully automated luxury > communist society, Bastani also acknowledges criticisms and challenges > associated with realizing such a future. > - Questions about governance, human agency, cultural values, and > the role of technology in shaping society are raised, inviting readers to > critically engage with the possibilities and limitations of the proposed > framework. > > *Overall, "Fully Automated Luxury Communism" invites readers to > contemplate a future where technology, abundance, and social cooperation > converge to create a more equitable and sustainable world. By challenging > traditional notions of work, wealth distribution, and progress, the book > inspires discussions about alternative models of society and the > transformative potential of emerging technologies in shaping our collective > future.* > > > *-------------------------* > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From avant at sollegro.com Sat Feb 24 16:04:50 2024 From: avant at sollegro.com (Stuart LaForge) Date: Sat, 24 Feb 2024 08:04:50 -0800 Subject: [ExI] Early Archives... Re: Yudkowsky 'Humanity's remaining timeline? It looks more like five years than 50' In-Reply-To: <005b01da65bf$07efdcd0$17cf9670$@rainier66.com> References: <00a901da642b$e6ce6bf0$b46b43d0$@rainier66.com> <00e201da6431$d67c81f0$837585d0$@rainier66.com> <005b01da65bf$07efdcd0$17cf9670$@rainier66.com> Message-ID: <54f4e0d18c7cb9296bbbfac951692962@sollegro.com> On 2024-02-22 10:43, spike jones via extropy-chat wrote: > From: extropy-chat On Behalf > Of Max More via extropy-chat > Subject: Re: [ExI] Early Archives... Re: Yudkowsky 'Humanity's > remaining timeline? It looks more like five years than 50' > >> ? Here it is, from.... wow, almost 30 years ago. > > >> ?Marvin Minsky wrote 10/30/94: about Zen > > enlightenment. I know of no one who has experienced much of it who > has also > > been able to continue to make significant mathematical or physical > discoveries?. > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > If one cruises thru the older archives, one is struck by how much > longer was our collective attention span back in those benighted > times. We had a prominent ExI guy who specifically expressed stern > disapprobation on the posting of short comments, suggesting a ban on > one liners. LOL. I remember that guy and those days. I actually proofread and revised my emails to the list back then. These days I seldom do. I blame lack of time and social media for the twitterification of my posts. That and Bill W. When he showed up and started writing one line emails and THAT GUY didn't immediately rake him over the coals for it, I realized I too could get away with it. ;) Stuart LaForge From foozler83 at gmail.com Sat Feb 24 16:39:24 2024 From: foozler83 at gmail.com (William Flynn Wallace) Date: Sat, 24 Feb 2024 10:39:24 -0600 Subject: [ExI] quote of the day Message-ID: >From boredpanda.com 'A 72 hour hold in a psych unit is beginning to appeal to me as a potential vacation opportunity.' bill w -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From foozler83 at gmail.com Sat Feb 24 17:22:19 2024 From: foozler83 at gmail.com (William Flynn Wallace) Date: Sat, 24 Feb 2024 11:22:19 -0600 Subject: [ExI] uploads etc. Message-ID: Suppose two uploads were in the same room. How would they read each other like people read body language and facial expressions? Here's an idea from Consider PHlebas - Banks - In that book the AI drones have lights, such as green, red, etc. to communicate moods and such. Could they in addition have tones of voice? Of course. What else? bill w -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From spike at rainier66.com Sun Feb 25 01:17:57 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Sat, 24 Feb 2024 17:17:57 -0800 Subject: [ExI] Early Archives... Re: Yudkowsky 'Humanity's remaining timeline? It looks more like five years than 50' In-Reply-To: <54f4e0d18c7cb9296bbbfac951692962@sollegro.com> References: <00a901da642b$e6ce6bf0$b46b43d0$@rainier66.com> <00e201da6431$d67c81f0$837585d0$@rainier66.com> <005b01da65bf$07efdcd0$17cf9670$@rainier66.com> <54f4e0d18c7cb9296bbbfac951692962@sollegro.com> Message-ID: <00f801da6788$77abc550$67034ff0$@rainier66.com> -----Original Message----- From: Stuart LaForge >>...We had a prominent ExI guy who specifically expressed stern > disapprobation on the posting of short comments, suggesting a ban on > one liners. >...LOL. I remember that guy and those days. I actually proofread and revised my emails to the list back then. These days I seldom do. I blame lack of time and social media for the twitterification of my posts. That and Bill W. When he showed up and started writing one line emails and THAT GUY didn't immediately rake him over the coals for it, I realized I too could get away with it. ;) Stuart LaForge Stuart, the poster in question had left us shortly before BillW arrived, but it is easy to see how those two events can be conflated in time. Even before Dr. W came along, I saw some value in very short posts. We are not being charged postage or anything of that kind. If one's thought is short and specific on a topic, then one's post should match it. I see this forum as an ongoing 30 year party, more than analogous to a journal. Humor is a good thing, methinks, for in good humor is an idea worthy of consideration in some way. At a party, some of the best and most entertaining comments consist of only a few words. The success of Twitter might have something to do with the notion of the value of getting right to the point. spike From spike at rainier66.com Sun Feb 25 01:37:34 2024 From: spike at rainier66.com (spike at rainier66.com) Date: Sat, 24 Feb 2024 17:37:34 -0800 Subject: [ExI] quote of the day In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <00fb01da678b$35a323d0$a0e96b70$@rainier66.com> From: extropy-chat On Behalf Of William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat 'A 72 hour hold in a psych unit is beginning to appeal to me as a potential vacation opportunity.' bill w Billw, you are in a position to know more about this than I do, being in the biz. What if? we made a kind of theme resort, around the notion of being a play version of a psych ward? Consider the controversial success of Heart Attack Grill in Las Vegas, which makes it clear enough that scarfing fat-bombs like burgers and greasy fries damn well does corrode your pipes. No point denying the obvious. A psych ward is the site of nearly unimaginable pain and suffering, so the entire idea of creating a parody-ish vacation site on that theme might just be a little beyond the scope of reality. But I woulda said the same about Heart Attack Grill, which turned into a huge tourist draw, causing me to be pissed off for not thinking of it first. spike -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From foozler83 at gmail.com Mon Feb 26 18:16:17 2024 From: foozler83 at gmail.com (William Flynn Wallace) Date: Mon, 26 Feb 2024 12:16:17 -0600 Subject: [ExI] quote of the day Message-ID: Confucius: "Man differs from the animal by only a little; most men throw that little away." bill w -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From pharos at gmail.com Mon Feb 26 23:39:10 2024 From: pharos at gmail.com (BillK) Date: Mon, 26 Feb 2024 23:39:10 +0000 Subject: [ExI] uploads etc. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On Sat, 24 Feb 2024 at 17:25, William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > Suppose two uploads were in the same room. How would they read each other > like people read body language and facial expressions? > > Here's an idea from Consider PHlebas - Banks - > In that book the AI drones have lights, such as green, red, etc. to > communicate moods and such. > > Could they in addition have tones of voice? Of course. What else? > bill w > _______________________________________________ > > Coloured lights?? For uploaded humans?? How primitive! They will have telepathy equivalent. BillK I asked - After humans upload into computers, how would the uploaded humans communicate with other uploaded humans? AI Answer - The concept of humans uploading into computers and then communicating with each other, specifically with other uploaded humans, is a fascinating and speculative topic. It touches on the intersection of neuroscience, artificial intelligence, and quantum computing. Here's a detailed exploration of how such a scenario might unfold, focusing on the communication aspect between uploaded humans: 1. Direct Brain-to-Brain Communication One of the most direct ways for uploaded humans to communicate with each other would be through direct brain-to-brain communication. This would involve the digital copies of brains directly interacting with each other, potentially bypassing the need for a physical interface. - *Implementation*: Each uploaded human would have a digital copy of their brain, which could be directly linked to the digital copies of other uploaded humans. This would allow for the transmission of thoughts, emotions, and other forms of communication directly between the digital brains. - *Communication*: Communication could occur through thought-to-thought transmission, where the thoughts of one uploaded human are directly understood by another. This could involve complex conversations, sharing of ideas, and even the exchange of emotions and experiences. 2. Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) Environments Another way for uploaded humans to communicate with each other would be through virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) environments. These technologies allow for the creation of immersive digital worlds where humans can interact with each other in a digital form. - *Implementation*: After uploading, each human would have a digital avatar in a VR or AR environment. These avatars could be controlled by the uploaded brain, allowing for physical interaction within the virtual world. - *Communication*: Communication could occur through voice, text, gestures, or even direct thought-to-thought communication, depending on the capabilities of the VR/AR system and the uploaded brain's interface. This could involve complex discussions, collaborations, and even the sharing of experiences in a virtual space. 3. Quantum Communication Quantum communication involves the use of quantum mechanics to transmit information. This could potentially allow for faster and more secure communication than current technologies. - *Implementation*: Quantum communication could be used to transmit the digital copies of brains or their thoughts directly between computers. This would require advanced quantum computing and quantum communication technologies. - *Communication*: The transmission of thoughts or data could be instantaneous, allowing for real-time communication between uploaded humans. This could involve the sharing of ideas, discussions, and even the exchange of emotions and experiences in a quantum-based digital space. 4. Neural Networks and AI After uploading, humans could communicate through neural networks and artificial intelligence (AI). This would involve the uploaded brain controlling an AI system that can interpret and generate human-like communication. - *Implementation*: The uploaded brain could control an AI system, which could interpret the brain's thoughts and generate speech, text, or other forms of communication. This AI system could then communicate with other uploaded humans through similar AI systems. - *Communication*: Communication could occur through the AI system, allowing for complex and nuanced interactions. This could involve the sharing of knowledge, the exchange of ideas, and even the creation of new concepts and theories. Conclusion The communication between uploaded humans would likely involve a combination of these mechanisms, depending on the specific capabilities of the technology and the preferences of the uploaded humans themselves. As our understanding of the brain and technology continues to evolve, so too will our ability to imagine and create new ways for humans to communicate after uploading into computers. ----------------------------- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From msd001 at gmail.com Tue Feb 27 00:35:39 2024 From: msd001 at gmail.com (Mike Dougherty) Date: Mon, 26 Feb 2024 19:35:39 -0500 Subject: [ExI] uploads etc. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On Mon, Feb 26, 2024, 6:41 PM BillK via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > On Sat, 24 Feb 2024 at 17:25, William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat < > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > >> Suppose two uploads were in the same room. How would they read each >> other like people read body language and facial expressions? >> >> Coloured lights?? For uploaded humans?? How primitive! They will have > telepathy equivalent. > BillK > > I asked - > > After humans upload into computers, how would the uploaded humans communicate with other uploaded humans? > > AI Answer - > I was going to let it go, but I do see this as a growing concern. We recently noted that bytes/message have been going down for years. The logical conclusion of this is that uploaded humans won't actually communicate with each other at all. In this case BillK's message was less than a tweet worth of snarcasm, a prompt for an AI answer, and the kind of insightful perspective WE used to be capable of producing. What makes "human level AI" if humans evolve into simulation of wet bio completely isolated from this world by AR and assistive technology? > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From pharos at gmail.com Tue Feb 27 13:23:02 2024 From: pharos at gmail.com (BillK) Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2024 13:23:02 +0000 Subject: [ExI] uploads etc. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On Tue, 27 Feb 2024 at 00:38, Mike Dougherty via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > I was going to let it go, but I do see this as a growing concern. We > recently noted that bytes/message have been going down for years. The > logical conclusion of this is that uploaded humans won't actually > communicate with each other at all. In this case BillK's message was less > than a tweet worth of snarcasm, a prompt for an AI answer, and the kind of > insightful perspective WE used to be capable of producing. > > What makes "human level AI" if humans evolve into simulation of wet bio > completely isolated from this world by AR and assistive technology? > >> _______________________________________________ > > After some discussion, I have the feeling that these advances will need each other to progress together. AI seems to agree. BillK I asked - Will research into mind uploading and AGI assist each other? AI answer - Yes, research into mind uploading and AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) can and likely will assist each other in several ways. This mutual assistance is driven by the shared goal of understanding and replicating human intelligence, which is a complex and multifaceted challenge. Here's how the research in these areas can complement and enhance each other: 1. *Understanding Human Intelligence* - *Mind Uploading*: By attempting to upload human minds to digital formats, researchers aim to understand the intricacies of human consciousness and cognition. This process involves mapping the brain's activity, identifying patterns of thought, and translating them into digital form. - *AGI Development*: AGI research seeks to create systems that can perform any intellectual task that a human being can do. This involves developing algorithms and systems that can learn, reason, and understand in a way that mimics human intelligence. 2. *Technological Advancements* - *Mind Uploading*: The development of technologies for scanning and translating brain activity can provide insights into the physical and computational requirements for human intelligence. These technologies could also serve as a foundation for AGI, offering a way to model and simulate human cognition. - *AGI Development*: The creation of AGI systems that can perform complex tasks and learn from experience can provide a benchmark for understanding human intelligence. It can also inspire new approaches to mind uploading, such as developing digital substrates that can host uploaded minds. 3. *Ethical and Philosophical Considerations* - *Mind Uploading*: The ethical and philosophical questions surrounding the uploading of human minds are closely related to those surrounding AGI. Both fields raise questions about the nature of consciousness, the rights of individuals, and the implications for society. - *AGI Development*: The development of AGI systems that can think and learn like humans raises similar ethical and philosophical questions. Researchers in both fields are grappling with the implications of creating systems that can mimic human intelligence. 4. *Resource Allocation and Prioritization* - *Mind Uploading*: The resources and focus of the scientific community are often shared between these fields. Researchers and organizations might prioritize one over the other based on perceived urgency, ethical considerations, or technological feasibility. - *AGI Development*: The development of AGI is a major focus in the field of artificial intelligence, with significant investments and research efforts. The progress in AGI can influence the direction and prioritization of mind uploading research. Conclusion The research into mind uploading and AGI is interconnected, with each field influencing and benefiting from the other. The shared goal of understanding and replicating human intelligence drives the collaboration between these areas. As both fields advance, they will likely continue to assist each other, contributing to a deeper understanding of human intelligence and paving the way for future technological advancements. ------------------------------- -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From foozler83 at gmail.com Tue Feb 27 13:29:00 2024 From: foozler83 at gmail.com (William Flynn Wallace) Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2024 07:29:00 -0600 Subject: [ExI] uploads etc. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: I think that without a direct connection conversation between uploads is impossible. So telepathy is just as impossible with uploads as it is with physical people. bill w On Tue, Feb 27, 2024 at 7:26?AM BillK via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > On Tue, 27 Feb 2024 at 00:38, Mike Dougherty via extropy-chat < > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > >> I was going to let it go, but I do see this as a growing concern. We >> recently noted that bytes/message have been going down for years. The >> logical conclusion of this is that uploaded humans won't actually >> communicate with each other at all. In this case BillK's message was less >> than a tweet worth of snarcasm, a prompt for an AI answer, and the kind of >> insightful perspective WE used to be capable of producing. >> >> What makes "human level AI" if humans evolve into simulation of wet bio >> completely isolated from this world by AR and assistive technology? >> >>> _______________________________________________ >> >> > After some discussion, I have the feeling that these advances will need > each other to progress together. > AI seems to agree. > BillK > > I asked - > Will research into mind uploading and AGI assist each other? > > AI answer - > > Yes, research into mind uploading and AGI (Artificial General > Intelligence) can and likely will assist each other in several ways. This > mutual assistance is driven by the shared goal of understanding and > replicating human intelligence, which is a complex and multifaceted > challenge. Here's how the research in these areas can complement and > enhance each other: > 1. *Understanding Human Intelligence* > > - *Mind Uploading*: By attempting to upload human minds to digital > formats, researchers aim to understand the intricacies of human > consciousness and cognition. This process involves mapping the brain's > activity, identifying patterns of thought, and translating them into > digital form. > - *AGI Development*: AGI research seeks to create systems that can > perform any intellectual task that a human being can do. This involves > developing algorithms and systems that can learn, reason, and understand in > a way that mimics human intelligence. > > 2. *Technological Advancements* > > - *Mind Uploading*: The development of technologies for scanning and > translating brain activity can provide insights into the physical and > computational requirements for human intelligence. These technologies could > also serve as a foundation for AGI, offering a way to model and simulate > human cognition. > - *AGI Development*: The creation of AGI systems that can perform > complex tasks and learn from experience can provide a benchmark for > understanding human intelligence. It can also inspire new approaches to > mind uploading, such as developing digital substrates that can host > uploaded minds. > > 3. *Ethical and Philosophical Considerations* > > - *Mind Uploading*: The ethical and philosophical questions > surrounding the uploading of human minds are closely related to those > surrounding AGI. Both fields raise questions about the nature of > consciousness, the rights of individuals, and the implications for society. > - *AGI Development*: The development of AGI systems that can think and > learn like humans raises similar ethical and philosophical questions. > Researchers in both fields are grappling with the implications of creating > systems that can mimic human intelligence. > > 4. *Resource Allocation and Prioritization* > > - *Mind Uploading*: The resources and focus of the scientific > community are often shared between these fields. Researchers and > organizations might prioritize one over the other based on perceived > urgency, ethical considerations, or technological feasibility. > - *AGI Development*: The development of AGI is a major focus in the > field of artificial intelligence, with significant investments and research > efforts. The progress in AGI can influence the direction and prioritization > of mind uploading research. > > Conclusion > > The research into mind uploading and AGI is interconnected, with each > field influencing and benefiting from the other. The shared goal of > understanding and replicating human intelligence drives the collaboration > between these areas. As both fields advance, they will likely continue to > assist each other, contributing to a deeper understanding of human > intelligence and paving the way for future technological advancements. > ------------------------------- > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From ben at zaiboc.net Tue Feb 27 13:50:42 2024 From: ben at zaiboc.net (Ben Zaiboc) Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2024 13:50:42 +0000 Subject: [ExI] Mind Uploading In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <92b84035-0baf-4496-ae8e-58781946c207@zaiboc.net> On 26/02/2024 23:40, BillK wrote: > So much of human life is a struggle for > bodily survival and planning for future care and security. When this > is removed and needs can be met instantly in a virtual environment, > the uploads will find other tasks, and they can evolve their minds to > tackle different challenges. Harming other uploaded minds should > appear to be a pretty pointless activity. > One would hope. You have to bear in mind, though, that there are people to whom some things are just 'wrong', and shouldn't be allowed to exist in anyone, anywhere, at any time. Things like certain thoughts and points of view (atheism or non-tolerated religious views, for instance, in the eyes of certain religious fundamentalists), or certain experiences (representing taboo sexual practices, for example). Given that there are people willing to sacrifice their lives in order to end the lives of people doing things they object to, I'm sure that when uploading becomes possible, there will be people willing to upload in order to do harm to other uploads for the same reasons. To people of a certain mindset, it's far from pointless to harm other people who are doing (or thinking) things that are seen as objectionable. It would be careless and silly to neglect this, and assume nobody wants to interfere with you (or destroy you) because you are an upload just minding your own business, not harming anyone else in any way. Uploads will need defenses just as much as biological humans, probably more. Definitely more, I'd think, given the extra dimensions of threat that will exist (remember "The Singularity, ruined by lawyers"? https://youtu.be/IFe9wiDfb0E). Ben -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From pharos at gmail.com Wed Feb 28 11:07:11 2024 From: pharos at gmail.com (BillK) Date: Wed, 28 Feb 2024 11:07:11 +0000 Subject: [ExI] =?utf-8?q?=E2=80=98Baby_AGI=E2=80=99_could_be_a_reality_in?= =?utf-8?q?_early_2025?= Message-ID: ?Baby AGI? could be a reality in early 2025: SingularityNET founder The ?complete toolset? to making the precursor to a fully functioning Artificial General Intelligence might be only about a year away, says Ben Goertzel. Andrew Fenton 27 Feb 2024 Quotes: An early prototype framework for Artificial General Intelligence could be operating as early as next year, SingularityNET founder Ben Goertzel believes. Speaking at the opening of the Beneficial AGI Summit in Panama on Feb. 27, Goertzel ? who popularized the term AGI ? laid out a blueprint for its development to ensure AGI isn?t controlled by corporations or governments and will help humanity rather than harm it. -------- While he says these benefits outweigh the risks, AGI could still go wrong in a number of ways. He outlined some of those risks in his address, including China and the United States developing ?super AGI whose goal is to clobber the other guy? or an unethical rollout of AGI that only benefits the global elite and makes the poor even poorer. ------ ?I also don?t think we can totally confidently rule out anything because we?re going into fundamentally unknown territory,? he said. ------------------------------- BillK . From giulio at gmail.com Thu Feb 29 05:37:31 2024 From: giulio at gmail.com (Giulio Prisco) Date: Thu, 29 Feb 2024 06:37:31 +0100 Subject: [ExI] My Beneficial AGI Summit 2024 pre-event online talk Message-ID: Watching the Beneficial AGI Summit 2024 (BGI24) online. Too bad I couldn't be there in person. Here's the audio of my pre-event talk "The future of AI: exploring consciousness & agency." https://www.turingchurch.com/p/the-future-of-ai-exploring-consciousness -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From pharos at gmail.com Thu Feb 29 12:29:03 2024 From: pharos at gmail.com (BillK) Date: Thu, 29 Feb 2024 12:29:03 +0000 Subject: [ExI] AI Warfare Is Already Here Message-ID: The US, Israel, Ukraine and Russia are already using AI for target selection for drones and bombs. Final decision is still with human operators. The next step will be when the military decide that this reaction time is too slow and AI will decide itself when and what to attack. Quotes: In a rare admission, Bloomberg reports that US military officials have officially acknowledged using artificial intelligence (AI) on the battlefield. According to Bloomberg?s report, the US has used AI to identify and neutralize targets. The existence of this capability is known, but this is the first time that the US has publically admitted its use and in an exclusive interview with Bloomberg, Schuyler Moore, the chief technology officer for US Central Command in the Middle East, explained the extent to which AI has been employed recently. ---------- Quotes: In the wake of technological advancements and geopolitical tensions, the emergence of autonomous weapons has become an unsettling reality. Spearheaded by developments in artificial intelligence, nations are racing to harness the potential of machines to make autonomous decisions in combat scenarios. The deployment of drones like the Saker Scout in Ukraine underscores the evolving landscape of warfare, where machines are entrusted with the power to identify and engage targets without human intervention. Despite concerns over the ethical implications and potential humanitarian crises, the allure of autonomous weapons persists as military strategists explore new avenues for dominance on the battlefield. --------------- It looks like nations are planning a 'Kill or be killed' system for AI weapon systems. BillK From foozler83 at gmail.com Thu Feb 29 12:44:09 2024 From: foozler83 at gmail.com (William Flynn Wallace) Date: Thu, 29 Feb 2024 06:44:09 -0600 Subject: [ExI] AI Warfare Is Already Here In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Y'know? Here's an awful thought: I wish that an AI in actual combat makes a mistake and kills civilians. Maybe that will be the spur to quit the damn things until we know a lot more than we do now. Never mind that a human makes the final decision - people make mistakes too. I am assured by history that military minds will rush new tech into use before we are ready for it. Maybe I don't actually wish it, but it WILL happen - and then we'll see. bill w On Thu, Feb 29, 2024 at 6:32?AM BillK via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > The US, Israel, Ukraine and Russia are already using AI for target > selection for drones and bombs. > Final decision is still with human operators. > The next step will be when the military decide that this reaction time > is too slow and AI will decide itself when and what to attack. > > > Quotes: > In a rare admission, Bloomberg reports that US military officials have > officially acknowledged using artificial intelligence (AI) on the > battlefield. According to Bloomberg?s report, the US has used AI to > identify and neutralize targets. > > The existence of this capability is known, but this is the first time > that the US has publically admitted its use and in an exclusive > interview with Bloomberg, Schuyler Moore, the chief technology officer > for US Central Command in the Middle East, explained the extent to > which AI has been employed recently. > ---------- > > > Quotes: > In the wake of technological advancements and geopolitical tensions, > the emergence of autonomous weapons has become an unsettling reality. > Spearheaded by developments in artificial intelligence, nations are > racing to harness the potential of machines to make autonomous > decisions in combat scenarios. > > The deployment of drones like the Saker Scout in Ukraine underscores > the evolving landscape of warfare, where machines are entrusted with > the power to identify and engage targets without human intervention. > Despite concerns over the ethical implications and potential > humanitarian crises, the allure of autonomous weapons persists as > military strategists explore new avenues for dominance on the > battlefield. > --------------- > > It looks like nations are planning a 'Kill or be killed' system for AI > weapon systems. > > BillK > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From brent.allsop at gmail.com Thu Feb 29 12:55:01 2024 From: brent.allsop at gmail.com (Brent Allsop) Date: Thu, 29 Feb 2024 05:55:01 -0700 Subject: [ExI] AI Warfare Is Already Here In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Yes, we never want to wish evil on anyone, but as we progress in everything, there will be unintended consequences. All those unintended consequences are also issues we need to solve, right? Nobody will ever give up till all problems and issues are solved. On Thu, Feb 29, 2024 at 5:45?AM William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > Y'know? Here's an awful thought: I wish that an AI in actual combat makes > a mistake and kills civilians. Maybe that will be the spur to quit the > damn things until we know a lot more than we do now. Never mind that a > human makes the final decision - people make mistakes too. I am assured by > history that military minds will rush new tech into use before we are ready > for it. > > Maybe I don't actually wish it, but it WILL happen - and then we'll see. > bill w > > On Thu, Feb 29, 2024 at 6:32?AM BillK via extropy-chat < > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > >> The US, Israel, Ukraine and Russia are already using AI for target >> selection for drones and bombs. >> Final decision is still with human operators. >> The next step will be when the military decide that this reaction time >> is too slow and AI will decide itself when and what to attack. >> >> >> Quotes: >> In a rare admission, Bloomberg reports that US military officials have >> officially acknowledged using artificial intelligence (AI) on the >> battlefield. According to Bloomberg?s report, the US has used AI to >> identify and neutralize targets. >> >> The existence of this capability is known, but this is the first time >> that the US has publically admitted its use and in an exclusive >> interview with Bloomberg, Schuyler Moore, the chief technology officer >> for US Central Command in the Middle East, explained the extent to >> which AI has been employed recently. >> ---------- >> >> >> Quotes: >> In the wake of technological advancements and geopolitical tensions, >> the emergence of autonomous weapons has become an unsettling reality. >> Spearheaded by developments in artificial intelligence, nations are >> racing to harness the potential of machines to make autonomous >> decisions in combat scenarios. >> >> The deployment of drones like the Saker Scout in Ukraine underscores >> the evolving landscape of warfare, where machines are entrusted with >> the power to identify and engage targets without human intervention. >> Despite concerns over the ethical implications and potential >> humanitarian crises, the allure of autonomous weapons persists as >> military strategists explore new avenues for dominance on the >> battlefield. >> --------------- >> >> It looks like nations are planning a 'Kill or be killed' system for AI >> weapon systems. >> >> BillK >> >> _______________________________________________ >> extropy-chat mailing list >> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org >> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat >> > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From pharos at gmail.com Thu Feb 29 13:17:54 2024 From: pharos at gmail.com (BillK) Date: Thu, 29 Feb 2024 13:17:54 +0000 Subject: [ExI] AI Warfare Is Already Here In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On Thu, 29 Feb 2024 at 12:47, William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat wrote: > > Y'know? Here's an awful thought: I wish that an AI in actual combat makes a mistake and kills civilians. Maybe that will be the spur to quit the damn things until we know a lot more than we do now. Never mind that a human makes the final decision - people make mistakes too. I am assured by history that military minds will rush new tech into use before we are ready for it. > > Maybe I don't actually wish it, but it WILL happen - and then we'll see. bill w > _______________________________________________ In war, it is always far more civilians that die than soldiers. Look at Gaza, Hiroshima, Dresden or the famines and deprivation that follow war. I don't see that a few civilian deaths (collateral damage) will stop the military deploying AI weaponry. BillK From foozler83 at gmail.com Thu Feb 29 14:10:32 2024 From: foozler83 at gmail.com (William Flynn Wallace) Date: Thu, 29 Feb 2024 08:10:32 -0600 Subject: [ExI] AI Warfare Is Already Here In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Two different situations: when collateral damage occurs and when the damage was where the bombs were aimed. Two - when there is collateral damage an the bombs were NOT where they should have been exploded. The second one calls for vastly more consideration. bill w On Thu, Feb 29, 2024 at 7:20?AM BillK via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > On Thu, 29 Feb 2024 at 12:47, William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat > wrote: > > > > Y'know? Here's an awful thought: I wish that an AI in actual combat > makes a mistake and kills civilians. Maybe that will be the spur to quit > the damn things until we know a lot more than we do now. Never mind that a > human makes the final decision - people make mistakes too. I am assured by > history that military minds will rush new tech into use before we are ready > for it. > > > > Maybe I don't actually wish it, but it WILL happen - and then we'll > see. bill w > > _______________________________________________ > > > In war, it is always far more civilians that die than soldiers. > Look at Gaza, Hiroshima, Dresden or the famines and deprivation that > follow war. > I don't see that a few civilian deaths (collateral damage) will stop > the military deploying AI weaponry. > > BillK > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From atymes at gmail.com Thu Feb 29 14:45:31 2024 From: atymes at gmail.com (Adrian Tymes) Date: Thu, 29 Feb 2024 06:45:31 -0800 Subject: [ExI] AI Warfare Is Already Here In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: This is not news. People have been warning about that exact hypothetical next step for decades, for so long as there has been any form of computerized assistance to aiming. It's been decades, and still the aiming systems have yet to go to full autonomous trigger control. On Thu, Feb 29, 2024, 4:31 AM BillK via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > The US, Israel, Ukraine and Russia are already using AI for target > selection for drones and bombs. > Final decision is still with human operators. > The next step will be when the military decide that this reaction time > is too slow and AI will decide itself when and what to attack. > > > Quotes: > In a rare admission, Bloomberg reports that US military officials have > officially acknowledged using artificial intelligence (AI) on the > battlefield. According to Bloomberg?s report, the US has used AI to > identify and neutralize targets. > > The existence of this capability is known, but this is the first time > that the US has publically admitted its use and in an exclusive > interview with Bloomberg, Schuyler Moore, the chief technology officer > for US Central Command in the Middle East, explained the extent to > which AI has been employed recently. > ---------- > > > Quotes: > In the wake of technological advancements and geopolitical tensions, > the emergence of autonomous weapons has become an unsettling reality. > Spearheaded by developments in artificial intelligence, nations are > racing to harness the potential of machines to make autonomous > decisions in combat scenarios. > > The deployment of drones like the Saker Scout in Ukraine underscores > the evolving landscape of warfare, where machines are entrusted with > the power to identify and engage targets without human intervention. > Despite concerns over the ethical implications and potential > humanitarian crises, the allure of autonomous weapons persists as > military strategists explore new avenues for dominance on the > battlefield. > --------------- > > It looks like nations are planning a 'Kill or be killed' system for AI > weapon systems. > > BillK > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From tara at taramayastales.com Thu Feb 29 16:07:24 2024 From: tara at taramayastales.com (Tara Maya) Date: Thu, 29 Feb 2024 08:07:24 -0800 Subject: [ExI] AI Warfare Is Already Here In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <159B7E7D-E047-448A-A535-D94712AD1AE6@taramayastales.com> > On Feb 29, 2024, at 4:44?AM, William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat wrote: > > Y'know? Here's an awful thought: I wish that an AI in actual combat makes a mistake and kills civilians. Maybe that will be the spur to quit the damn things until we know a lot more than we do now. > My prediction: It won't. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From foozler83 at gmail.com Thu Feb 29 16:14:59 2024 From: foozler83 at gmail.com (William Flynn Wallace) Date: Thu, 29 Feb 2024 10:14:59 -0600 Subject: [ExI] AI Warfare Is Already Here In-Reply-To: <159B7E7D-E047-448A-A535-D94712AD1AE6@taramayastales.com> References: <159B7E7D-E047-448A-A535-D94712AD1AE6@taramayastales.com> Message-ID: We have de jure civilian control of the military, but not de facto control. bill w On Thu, Feb 29, 2024 at 10:10?AM Tara Maya via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > > > On Feb 29, 2024, at 4:44?AM, William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat < > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > > Y'know? Here's an awful thought: I wish that an AI in actual combat makes > a mistake and kills civilians. Maybe that will be the spur to quit the > damn things until we know a lot more than we do now. > > > > My prediction: It won't. > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From foozler83 at gmail.com Thu Feb 29 16:35:58 2024 From: foozler83 at gmail.com (William Flynn Wallace) Date: Thu, 29 Feb 2024 10:35:58 -0600 Subject: [ExI] Fwd: a fantasy of spin In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Subject: a fantasy of spin "Yes, your Holiness, I will try to explain my ideas through two stories: Suppose a lord wanted to know, for no apparent reason, what the geometric center of Italy is. The problem is that on the North, NorthEast and NorthWest the borders are uncertain, and do we include Sardinia and Sicily etc? No. So choosing which borders to use is entirely arbitrary. We calculate several different centers based on different borders. Best to pick one that is near a big city (preferably near the lord if that is possible). Now consider the solar system. Your Holiness has declared that the Earth is the center. Then the planets and their motions are determined. The problem is that the geometry to do that is enormously complicated. If, by pure arbitrariness, we consider the Sun to be the center, then the geometry is far easier. Conversion from that to the Earth-centered geometry can be done. So the Sun being the center is just an arbitrary way of thinking to make the geometry easier. No one is saying, like in the case of the center of Italy, that one version is true and the others false. Earth as the center is perfectly valid, as you have ruled." Now what if we could go back in time and present Galileo these stories to tell to the Pope? Might they have worked to save him? Who knows? bill w -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From dsunley at gmail.com Thu Feb 29 16:48:25 2024 From: dsunley at gmail.com (Darin Sunley) Date: Thu, 29 Feb 2024 09:48:25 -0700 Subject: [ExI] Fwd: a fantasy of spin In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: It is a matter of historical record that Galileo was, to put it lightly, an intransigent jerk who had no interest whatsoever in softening his message. He was making a theological, not to mention intensely political statement, and he knew he was doing this while he was doing it. His house arrest came only at the end of long, involved, repeated conversations with church officials, none of whom were stupid or particularly dogmatic. These arguments are relatively trivial and I guarantee you they were offered to Galileo repeatedly. (Why American atheists insist on modeling the medieval Catholic church like 80 IQ rural Southern Baptist pastors is something I will never understand. They were highly intelligent, deeply sophisticated, utterly ruthless politicians of the first order. They understood the science perfectly fine, and had no particular objections to it. But their real god was Church Authority, and thats what Galileo was very intentionally attacking.) On Thu, Feb 29, 2024, 9:38 AM William Flynn Wallace via extropy-chat < extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote: > > > Subject: a fantasy of spin > > > "Yes, your Holiness, I will try to explain my ideas through two stories: > > Suppose a lord wanted to know, for no apparent reason, what the geometric > center of Italy is. The problem is that on the North, NorthEast and NorthWest > the borders are uncertain, and do we include Sardinia and Sicily etc? No. > So choosing which borders to use is entirely arbitrary. We calculate > several different centers based on different borders. Best to pick one that > is near a big city (preferably near the lord if that is possible). > > Now consider the solar system. Your Holiness has declared that the Earth > is the center. Then the planets and their motions are determined. The > problem is that the geometry to do that is enormously complicated. If, by > pure arbitrariness, we consider the Sun to be the center, then the geometry > is far easier. Conversion from that to the Earth-centered geometry can be > done. > > So the Sun being the center is just an arbitrary way of thinking to make > the geometry easier. No one is saying, like in the case of the center of > Italy, that one version is true and the others false. Earth as the center > is perfectly valid, as you have ruled." > > Now what if we could go back in time and present Galileo these stories to > tell to the Pope? Might they have worked to save him? Who knows? bill w > > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From pharos at gmail.com Thu Feb 29 17:08:21 2024 From: pharos at gmail.com (BillK) Date: Thu, 29 Feb 2024 17:08:21 +0000 Subject: [ExI] Are Self-driving cars good enough now? Message-ID: We Are All Bad Drivers Anyone rooting against self-driving cars is cheering for tens of thousands of deaths, year after year. We shouldn?t be burning self-driving cars in the streets. We should be celebrating? By Eric Newcomer February 28, 2024 Quote: There was a time when I believed that self-driving cars should be held to the standard of airplanes. Every mistake needed to be rigorously understood and any human death was unforgivable. But my view has evolved over time as human drivers have continued to kill tens of thousands of people a year. We need a solution that?s meaningfully better than human drivers, yes, but we shouldn?t wait for perfection before we start getting dangerous human drivers off the streets. ---------------- Sounds good to me! BillK From postmowoods at gmail.com Thu Feb 29 18:58:14 2024 From: postmowoods at gmail.com (Kelly Anderson) Date: Thu, 29 Feb 2024 11:58:14 -0700 Subject: [ExI] Are Self-driving cars good enough now? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: I've said exactly this for years. To make it happen though, there also needs to be legislation that makes the burden of proof quite high for a consumer to sue an autonomous car company for wrongful death or injury. The actual transition will be sped along if insurance companies get behind autonomous driving by appropriately lowering the prices charged for an autonomous car and likewise increasing insurance premiums for meat driven cars. -Kelly On Thu, Feb 29, 2024 at 10:09?AM BillK via extropy-chat wrote: > > We Are All Bad Drivers > Anyone rooting against self-driving cars is cheering for tens of > thousands of deaths, year after year. We shouldn?t be burning > self-driving cars in the streets. We should be celebrating? > By Eric Newcomer February 28, 2024 > > > Quote: > There was a time when I believed that self-driving cars should be held > to the standard of airplanes. Every mistake needed to be rigorously > understood and any human death was unforgivable. But my view has > evolved over time as human drivers have continued to kill tens of > thousands of people a year. We need a solution that?s meaningfully > better than human drivers, yes, but we shouldn?t wait for perfection > before we start getting dangerous human drivers off the streets. > ---------------- > > Sounds good to me! > > BillK > > _______________________________________________ > extropy-chat mailing list > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat From ben at zaiboc.net Thu Feb 29 21:00:21 2024 From: ben at zaiboc.net (Ben Zaiboc) Date: Thu, 29 Feb 2024 21:00:21 +0000 Subject: [ExI] uploads etc. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <33cea3b8-452f-4b4b-9a31-efc2f2d4af3a@zaiboc.net> On 26/02/2024 23:40, Bill W wrote: > Suppose two uploads were in the same room.? How would they read each > other like people read body language and facial expressions? In exactly the same way. > Here's an idea from?Consider Phlebas - Banks - > In that book the AI drones have lights, such as green, red, etc. to > communicate?moods and such. > Could they in addition have tones of voice?? Of course.? What else?? ? > bill w I'm not sure why uploads would need anything extra over what biological humans use for communication. As they will have virtual bodies and analogues of biological senses like sight and hearing, projecting and receiving body language would be pretty similar, I'd think. Of course, they'd have more control over their bodies than biological humans do (and potentially greater sensual acuity), so there'd probably be extra scope for body language signals than we have. In any case, no need for anything extra (not to say there'd be no desire for something extra, but that would develop over time, I should think). They would be able to read each other just like we do. The Drones in Iain M Banks' novels only use such crude methods because they don't have the same anatomy that humans do (not sure why, but that's another issue). Uploads would be able to present any appearance they like, including fully original-human. As people get more adventurous and adopt more outlandish forms, then perhaps new body language signals would need to be developed. At some point, I'd expect new metalanguage would develop, and people would then maybe exchange digital packages conveying nuances of meaning that go way beyond what we are used to. Ben -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: