Scored 13%. Which… yeah. Although my mood was, at the time, very anti-TESCREAL at the moment.
I don't know. I tend to think about the ethics of something on a more… relational scale? i.e. our relationship with each other, the biosphere, our bodies and physicality, our cultures and upbringings. And I'm automatically suspicious of quantitative approaches to ethical questions, because a quantitative approach must necessarily strip out the subtleties of the question in itself. Like… one of the questions was about how the Singularity would be one of the most momentous events in human history, and I agreed with it. I didn't think it would be a GOOD thing though — assuming that it WAS possible, then… yeah! It would be momentous! A momentous DISASTER, for sure.
Also, that question about if your gut feels bad even if you've done the ethical calculation… buddy, it's time to examine the assumptions behind the ethical calculation, then. It's ACTUALLY possible you got something wrong. This is the sort of shit that causes people to walk into abusive relationships. Good lord, please look out for yourself.
Re: your concerns about mirror life… I commented about it in the newsletter you posted last time as well. Are mirror life and tabletop WMDs possible? Sure. Is THAT the stuff that's most likely gonna kill us all? Nah. I'm more worried about RFK Jr.'s policies causing mass death by gutting healthcare services. Or a world leader losing his mind (and it's likely a he) and launching the nukes and everyone not knowing who his target was and just deciding to launch at their hardwired, predetermined targets.
Listening to Robert Evans of Behind the Bastards talk about how the entire nuclear situation we're in was caused by a bunch of men who were traumatized about WW1 and totally determined in their (erroneous) belief that all you need is to MOAR DAKKA targeted civilian populations to win ANY war, despite repeated evidence to the contrary: turns out that when you bomb the shit out of a country, you don't break the spirits of its civilians — you just piss them off.
Like, I guess dwelling on mirror life for long periods of time might be upsetting, but honestly, I'm more frustrated, frightened, and angry that the people who colluded with a rapist, child trafficker and sexual abuser are STILL the same people who are trying to dismantle international law, democracy of the world's largest nuclear arsenal, and our information systems.
“Like… one of the questions was about how the Singularity would be one of the most momentous events in human history, and I agreed with it. I didn't think it would be a GOOD thing though — assuming that it WAS possible, then… yeah! It would be momentous! A momentous DISASTER, for sure.”
Same! There were a few other questions like that — where I feel like my answer was the one they were “looking for” but not for the reasons they thought.
I couldn't do that 70-question quiz in ten minutes. Each question was several minutes' worth of thinking before I could give a straight "disagree" or "agree," because the phrasing was such a challenge. I very much enjoyed the process, so I will finish it.
My guess is that my percentage will be pretty high, but not as high as my initial expectation.
Also: every time you make a statement like this one: "Silicon Valley pro-extinctionists tend to see humanity, and life itself, different from human preservationists like myself," I'm reminded why I keep coming back to read you, despite constantly disagreeing with you a lot. It helps to remember that while you put a label like "TESCREAList" or "pro-extinctionist" on people, you aren't dodging your own label.
23% here, but I felt like some of the questions didn’t have a neat “yes or no” answer, and that my response meant something different than what the question seemed to be angling for.
I used to be far more focused on the need for, and value of, “rational” analysis and still skew heavily that way. I find it interesting that the one place my MBTI profile (and yes I know that’s pop psychology, I wont even dignify it with the label “junk science”) has shifted is that I used to be an off-scale “T” (particularly unusual for a woman) and am now shifted a bit more to the center on that scale (though still far from the F side).
I recently learned about the book “The Master and his Emissary” and now I want to read it. I definitely guilty of thinking that my left hemisphere is “smarter” than my right one, and it seems pretty clear that all these tech bros feel (or, I suppose I should say, think) the same.
The mirror life discussion reminds me of a short story by Andy Weir called, “Antihypoxiant”. A scientist develops a molecule that stores extensive amounts of oxygen (a mirror hemoglobin with super strength if you will). This molecule prevents cell death by loss of oxygen due to trauma, drowning, heart failure, etc. He decides FDA approval will take too long and so releases the molecule himself via a highly contagious virus into the world.
Eventually everyone is infected, and the molecule works! People no longer die quickly from injuries and illnesses, but can survive for days without active blood flow while doctors heal them. Unfortunately, the scientist himself became immune during his years of research.
After some time however, it becomes apparent that something in the human blood-brain barrier alters the molecule. It starts to “steal” oxygen from higher level centers in the brain. People maintain their base instincts, but slowly lose awareness and the ability to think.
In the end, humanity turns into zombies, roaming the world for food and violently fighting for survival. Only the scientist remains…
Excellent, thank you Émile, this helps my understanding quite a lot. It seems like TESCREALists have forgotten our origins in the dust of the Universe, we are destined to return no matter how hard they want something different. Sad.
Scored 13%. Which… yeah. Although my mood was, at the time, very anti-TESCREAL at the moment.
I don't know. I tend to think about the ethics of something on a more… relational scale? i.e. our relationship with each other, the biosphere, our bodies and physicality, our cultures and upbringings. And I'm automatically suspicious of quantitative approaches to ethical questions, because a quantitative approach must necessarily strip out the subtleties of the question in itself. Like… one of the questions was about how the Singularity would be one of the most momentous events in human history, and I agreed with it. I didn't think it would be a GOOD thing though — assuming that it WAS possible, then… yeah! It would be momentous! A momentous DISASTER, for sure.
Also, that question about if your gut feels bad even if you've done the ethical calculation… buddy, it's time to examine the assumptions behind the ethical calculation, then. It's ACTUALLY possible you got something wrong. This is the sort of shit that causes people to walk into abusive relationships. Good lord, please look out for yourself.
Re: your concerns about mirror life… I commented about it in the newsletter you posted last time as well. Are mirror life and tabletop WMDs possible? Sure. Is THAT the stuff that's most likely gonna kill us all? Nah. I'm more worried about RFK Jr.'s policies causing mass death by gutting healthcare services. Or a world leader losing his mind (and it's likely a he) and launching the nukes and everyone not knowing who his target was and just deciding to launch at their hardwired, predetermined targets.
Listening to Robert Evans of Behind the Bastards talk about how the entire nuclear situation we're in was caused by a bunch of men who were traumatized about WW1 and totally determined in their (erroneous) belief that all you need is to MOAR DAKKA targeted civilian populations to win ANY war, despite repeated evidence to the contrary: turns out that when you bomb the shit out of a country, you don't break the spirits of its civilians — you just piss them off.
Like, I guess dwelling on mirror life for long periods of time might be upsetting, but honestly, I'm more frustrated, frightened, and angry that the people who colluded with a rapist, child trafficker and sexual abuser are STILL the same people who are trying to dismantle international law, democracy of the world's largest nuclear arsenal, and our information systems.
And they're SUCH LOSERS about it, too.
“Like… one of the questions was about how the Singularity would be one of the most momentous events in human history, and I agreed with it. I didn't think it would be a GOOD thing though — assuming that it WAS possible, then… yeah! It would be momentous! A momentous DISASTER, for sure.”
Same! There were a few other questions like that — where I feel like my answer was the one they were “looking for” but not for the reasons they thought.
I couldn't do that 70-question quiz in ten minutes. Each question was several minutes' worth of thinking before I could give a straight "disagree" or "agree," because the phrasing was such a challenge. I very much enjoyed the process, so I will finish it.
My guess is that my percentage will be pretty high, but not as high as my initial expectation.
Also: every time you make a statement like this one: "Silicon Valley pro-extinctionists tend to see humanity, and life itself, different from human preservationists like myself," I'm reminded why I keep coming back to read you, despite constantly disagreeing with you a lot. It helps to remember that while you put a label like "TESCREAList" or "pro-extinctionist" on people, you aren't dodging your own label.
23% here, but I felt like some of the questions didn’t have a neat “yes or no” answer, and that my response meant something different than what the question seemed to be angling for.
I used to be far more focused on the need for, and value of, “rational” analysis and still skew heavily that way. I find it interesting that the one place my MBTI profile (and yes I know that’s pop psychology, I wont even dignify it with the label “junk science”) has shifted is that I used to be an off-scale “T” (particularly unusual for a woman) and am now shifted a bit more to the center on that scale (though still far from the F side).
I recently learned about the book “The Master and his Emissary” and now I want to read it. I definitely guilty of thinking that my left hemisphere is “smarter” than my right one, and it seems pretty clear that all these tech bros feel (or, I suppose I should say, think) the same.
The mirror life discussion reminds me of a short story by Andy Weir called, “Antihypoxiant”. A scientist develops a molecule that stores extensive amounts of oxygen (a mirror hemoglobin with super strength if you will). This molecule prevents cell death by loss of oxygen due to trauma, drowning, heart failure, etc. He decides FDA approval will take too long and so releases the molecule himself via a highly contagious virus into the world.
Eventually everyone is infected, and the molecule works! People no longer die quickly from injuries and illnesses, but can survive for days without active blood flow while doctors heal them. Unfortunately, the scientist himself became immune during his years of research.
After some time however, it becomes apparent that something in the human blood-brain barrier alters the molecule. It starts to “steal” oxygen from higher level centers in the brain. People maintain their base instincts, but slowly lose awareness and the ability to think.
In the end, humanity turns into zombies, roaming the world for food and violently fighting for survival. Only the scientist remains…
Excellent, thank you Émile, this helps my understanding quite a lot. It seems like TESCREALists have forgotten our origins in the dust of the Universe, we are destined to return no matter how hard they want something different. Sad.
I got 7% on the survey....
Holy Shit Émile that 2019 photo of you gave me some serious whiplash. Not trying to be that guy, but you lowkey look good with a short beard.