Comments for WrongBot

Comment on Escaping the Chinese Room by Alrenous

Alrenous — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 02:53:04 +0000

Changing briefly from a Chinese Room to an English room, does it feel the same, or different, for the room to understand English, as compared to me?

How does it know it is supposed to feel that way, as opposed to the myriad other ways it could feel?

Comment on If the Universe is Spatially Infinite… by WrongBot

WrongBot — Thu, 12 May 2011 02:04:39 +0000

Huge flying lizards that breathe fire don’t violate physics, I don’t think. They’re just improbable.

As for Thor, I was imagining his role being played (in both cases) by sufficiently advanced aliens with nothing better to do. Again, merely improbable.

I think you’re probably right about the serial killer one. Said serial killer might act like you (while not killing serially, anyway), but he is probably different from you in other meaningful senses as well.

I’ll have to check out that Niven story, thanks for the tip.

Comment on Off-Topic: I Wasn’t Born This Way by WrongBot

WrongBot — Thu, 12 May 2011 01:48:08 +0000

To be fair, I’m envious of your ability to quickly and consistently write enormous amounts of high quality material.

Are you still going to be at the Singularity Institute this summer? I’m looking forward to meeting you there.

Comment on If the Universe is Spatially Infinite… by David Evans

David Evans — Wed, 11 May 2011 23:18:50 +0000

I have a number of quibbles with your list

Is it possible that an Earth so unlike ours as to have dragons (which violate our laws of physics) would also have Nazis?

Is Thor (either version) a logically coherent possibility?

Could someone who could be a serial killer be “just like” me in every other respect?

That said, I share your feeling that these possibilities are dreadful to contemplate. Larry Niven dramatised the fact in a story called (I think) All The Myriad Ways

Comment on Off-Topic: I Wasn’t Born This Way by Luke

Luke — Wed, 11 May 2011 03:26:10 +0000

I like this post.

I’m also envious of your ability to express significant thoughts in such little space.

Comment on Off-Topic: I Wasn’t Born This Way by Anon

Anon — Thu, 05 May 2011 18:33:47 +0000

You’re merely equivocating here. It is generally understood that queer “pride” does not mean holding up being queer as some kind of accomplishment. “Pride” when used in reference to parts of one’s identity can mean a feeling of acceptance and comfort with oneself, and to take courage in being yourself.

By this token, intelligence is also something to be ‘proud’ of. One shows ‘pride’ in a queer identity by being courageous in coming out, in being an ally, and simply by not letting yourself be shamed because of that identification with the group. One shows pride in intelligence by applying it and working hard to improve it – not by saying “I’m smart – therefore I win.”

This is a straw man argument propped up by syllogism.

Comment on What I Mean by “The Singularity” by Luke

Luke — Tue, 03 May 2011 23:30:14 +0000

More, please!

Comment on If the Universe is Spatially Infinite… by Doug S.

Doug S. — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 07:11:31 +0000

Also, I suspect that those versions of Thor are actually impossible as well…

Comment on If the Universe is Spatially Infinite… by Doug S.

Doug S. — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 07:06:54 +0000

Also, I suspect that certain versions of Thor are outright impossible as well…

Comment on If the Universe is Spatially Infinite… by Doug S.

Doug S. — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 00:18:29 +0000

A spatially infinite universe doesn’t logically require that all possible finitely sized configurations of matter occur an infinite number of times. For example, it is logically possible that all the infinite space outside our observable universe is actually empty or follows some other pattern that only includes us a finite number of times.

I think that some finitely-sized pattern has to repeat an infinite number of times, but it doesn’t have to be us – and some possible patterns might not exist at all.