Fluidity

Superintelligence should scare us only insofar as it grants superpowers. Protecting against specific harms of specific plausible powers may be our best strategy for preventing catastrophes.   https://betterwithout.ai/fear-AI-power   For much of the AI safety community, the central question has been "when will it happen?!" That is futile: we don't have a coherent description of what "it" is, much l...

Many people call the future threat "artificial general intelligence," but all three words there are misleading when trying to understand risks.   https://betterwithout.ai/artificial-general-intelligence   AI may radically accelerate technology development. That might be extremely good or extremely bad. There are currently no good explanations for how either would happen, so it's hard to predict wh...

Thanks for your patience while I ran Fluidity Forum. We now resume "Better Without AI" by David Chapman.   Speculations about autonomous AI assume simplistic theories of motivation. They also mistakenly confuse those with ethical theories. Building AI systems on these ideas would produce monsters. https://betterwithout.ai/AI-motivation   Coherent Extrapolated Volition https://betterwithout.ai/AI-m...

It's a mistake to think that human-like agency is the only dangerous kind. That risks overlooking AIs causing agent-like harms in inhuman ways. https://betterwithout.ai/diverse-agency#fn_meme_critics You can support the podcast and get episodes a week early, by supporting the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/m/fluidityaudiobooks   If you like the show, consider buying me a coffee: https://www.buym...

Most apocalyptic scenarios involve an AI acting as an autonomous agent, pursuing goals that conflict with human ones. Many people reject AI risk, saying that machines can't have real goals or intentions. However, agency seems nebulous; and subtracting "real" agency from the scenario doesn't seem to remove the risk.   https://betterwithout.ai/agency   A video in which white blood cells look as if t...

We have a powerful intuition that some special mental feature, such as self-awareness, is a prerequisite to intelligence. This causes confusion because we don't have a coherent understanding of what the special feature is, nor what role it plays in intelligent action. It may be best to treat mental characteristics as in the eye of the beholder, and therefore mainly irrelevant to AI risks. https://...

Scary AI: Apocalyptic AI scenarios usually involve some qualitatively different future form of artificial intelligence. No one can explain clearly what would make that exceptionally dangerous in a way current AI isn't. This confusion draws attention away from risks of existing and near-future technologies, and from ways of forestalling them. https://betterwithout.ai/scary-AI Superintelligence: May...

We now begin narrating the book Better Without AI, by David Chapman.   https://betterwithout.ai/only-you-can-stop-an-AI-apocalypse   You can support the podcast and get episodes a week early, by supporting the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/m/fluidityaudiobooks If you like the show, consider buying me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattarnold ] Original music by Kevin MacLeod. This podca...

A meta-rational organization may appear chaotic (although productive and innovative), until you notice how smoothly routine rational work gets done. https://metarationality.com/meta-rational-workplace This is one of several standalone essays by David Chapman I'm incorporating into the unwritten sections of In The Cells Of The Eggplant, for the audiobook version. You can support the podcast and get...

Fine-grained analysis of a molecular biology how-to video reveals significant features of rationality in practice. https://metarationality.com/rational-pcr   This is one of several standalone essays by David Chapman I'm incorporating into the unwritten sections of In The Cells Of The Eggplant, for the audiobook version.   The Britannica entry on PCR: https://www.britannica.com/science/polymerase-c...

Part V of In The Cells Of The Eggplant: Taking Rational Work Seriously   Putting meta-rationality to work, in statistics, experimental science, software development, and entrepreneurship. https://metarationality.com/applications   Richard Feynman derided "cargo cult science" that sticks to fixed systems. Innovation requires an upgrade to fluid, meta-systematic inquiry. https://metarationality.com/...

The syllabus for a curriculum teaching meta-rational skills: how to evaluate, combine, modify, discover, and create effective systems. https://metarationality.com/meta-rationality-curriculum   This is one of several standalone essays by David Chapman I'm incorporating into the unwritten sections of In The Cells Of The Eggplant, for the audiobook version.   You can support the podcast and get episo...

Distinguishing irrational, anti-rational, and meta-rational critiques of rationalism helps reply effectively. https://metarationality.com/rationalism-critiques This is one of several standalone essays by David Chapman I'm incorporating into the unwritten sections of In The Cells Of The Eggplant, for the audiobook version. You can support the podcast and get episodes a week early, by supporting the...

Just as in the last episode, this is one of several standalone essays by David Chapman I'm incorporating into the unwritten sections of In The Cells Of The Eggplant, for the audiobook version. It fits well into Part 4: Taking Meta-Rationality Seriously.   Rationality requires judging whether a system of reasoning applies to a situation — but that judgement cannot be systematic! https://metarationa...

The heart of the meta-rationality book: what meta-rationality is, why it matters, and how to do it.   https://metarationality.com/meta-rationality   A first lesson in meta-rationality, or stage 5 cognition, using Bongard problems as a laboratory. This is an essay from metarationality.com edited and inserted into In The Cells Of The Eggplant, with the permission of the author.   https://metarationa...

Reconfiguring categories, properties, and relationships is a meta-rational skill—key in scientific revolutions.   https://metarationality.com/remodeling   Be advised, this episode is an hour long.   You can support the podcast and get episodes a week early, by supporting the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/m/fluidityaudiobooks   If you like the show, consider buying me a coffee: https://www.buyme...

Even counting, the simplest rational method, works only with the aid of non-rational support. https://metarationality.com/pebbles You can support the podcast and get episodes a week early, by supporting the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/m/fluidityaudiobooks   If you like the show, consider buying me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattarnold Original music by Kevin MacLeod.   This podcas...

A pragmatic understanding of how systematic rationality works in practice can help you level up your technical work. https://metarationality.com/rationality   You can support the podcast and get episodes a week early, by supporting the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/m/fluidityaudiobooks   If you like the show, consider buying me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattarnold Original music by...

Reasonableness works with nebulous, tacit, interactive, accountable, purposeful ontologies, which enable everyday routine activity. https://metarationality.com/reasonable-ontology   You can support the podcast and get episodes a week early, by supporting the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/m/fluidityaudiobooks   If you like the show, consider buying me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/matta...

Using instructions requires figuring out what they mean in the context of your activity, and relative to your purposes. https://metarationality.com/reasonable-ontology You can support the podcast and get episodes a week early, by supporting the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/m/fluidityaudiobooks If you like the show, consider buying me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattarnold Original m...

This episode is more than an hour long.   The epistemological categories—truth, belief, inference—are richer, more complex, diverse, and nebulous than rationalism supposes. https://metarationality.com/reasonable-epistemology   You can support the podcast and get episodes a week early, by supporting the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/m/fluidityaudiobooks   If you like the show, consider buying me...

Peculiar features of language make sense as tools to enable collaboration, rather than to express objective truths. https://metarationality.com/purpose-of-meaning You can support the podcast and get episodes a week early, by supporting the Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/m/fluidityaudiobooks If you like the show, consider buying me a coffee: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mattarnold Original music...

We actively work to perceive aspects of the world as meaningful, in terms of our purposes, in context. https://metarationality.com/perception   Here are the images mentioned in this episode:   In this episode is a mention of a perception test of tracking basketball players passing a ball: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJG698U2Mvo Also mentioned in this episode is a more advanced version of the p...

You are accountable for reasonableness: Accountability is the key concept in understanding mere reasonableness, as contrasted with systematic rationality. https://metarationality.com/accountability   Reasonableness is routine: Routine activity usually goes smoothly overall, despite frequent minor glitches, because we have methods for repairing trouble. https://metarationality.com/routine   You can...

Aspects of reasonableness: A summary explanation of everyday reasonable activity, with a tabular guide and a concrete example. https://metarationality.com/reasonableness-aspects   Reasonableness is meaningful activity: Understanding concrete, purposeful activity is a prerequisite to understanding the formal rationality that depends on it. https://metarationality.com/meaningful-activity   You can s...