Michael Williams

Feedback is a gift. Pay attention. Memento mori.

[Michael Williams @mxwilliams]

Psychologist Carl Jung wrote: A rabbi was asked why God no longer shows himself to people as in ancient times. The rabbi replied, “Nowadays there is no longer anybody who can bow low enough.”

Jung saw the story of Jonah as a descent into the abyss, to the depths required for him to finally see God.

God commanded Jonah to preach in Nineveh, but Jonah fled 2,000 miles in the opposite direction. God sent a storm, and Jonah hid in the bottom of the boat, asleep. When the pagan sailors interrogated him, he told them to throw him overboard. Jonah was swallowed by a fish and carried to the bottom of the sea, to the roots of the mountains, and into Sheol, the realm of death.

French artist Albert Camus called this state exile: the realization that the structures we build to hold back absurdity are provisional and can never be permanent.

The alchemists said "in sterquilinio invenitur", in filth it will be found. What you most want will be in the place you least want to look.

Every step took Jonah lower. He could have turned back at any point, but only at the lowest place did he finally see God.

God is present in the heights and the depths. If we can't see him where we are then we have to go lower, into the shadows, into the depths, until we have no choice but to open our eyes.

[Michael Williams @mxwilliams]

@deanwball I’m a professional strategist, and most strategy is crap. The best strategy is almost always very simple, a version of “buy winners, sell losers”. Who are your customers and what do they need?

[Michael Williams @mxwilliams]

@deanwball I’m a professional strategist, and most strategy is crap. The best strategy is almost always very simple, a version of “buy winners, sell losers”. Who are your customers and what do they need?

[Michael Williams @mxwilliams]

@BoringBiz_ Demand is infinite.

[Michael Williams @mxwilliams]

@EricJorgenson @elonmusk It is worth pointing out that the Idiot Index is largely driven by wages. Shrinking the index costs non-recurring wages up front, and permanently shrinks recurring wages. This is great for civilization while simultaneously creating an ongoing squeeze on workers.

[Michael Williams @mxwilliams]

@EricJorgenson @elonmusk It is worth pointing out that the Idiot Index is largely driven by wages. Shrinking the index costs non-recurring wages up front, and permanently shrinks recurring wages. This is great for civilization while simultaneously creating an ongoing squeeze on workers.

[Michael Williams @mxwilliams]

@Alien_AV @robertwiblin Exactly right

[Michael Williams @mxwilliams]

@AndrewYNg Until AIs can earn prestige, they aren't a real threat to human work. People will keep creating ways to allocate status among ourselves, and many of those ways will look like jobs.

[Michael Williams @mxwilliams]

@AndrewYNg Until AIs can earn prestige, they aren't a real threat to human work. People will keep creating ways to allocate status among ourselves, and many of those ways will look like jobs.

[Michael Williams @mxwilliams]

@signulll Old texts consistently test as positive for AI generation, and we dismiss the tests as obviously flawed. But…

[Michael Williams @mxwilliams]

Super strong. Agree. It seems like almost all consciousness arguments implicitly assume a functionalist view of consciousness, and I’m glad to see you pushing back on that. Since the Chinese Room thought experiment there has been very strong intuition that consciousness is more/different than executing instructions.

[Michael Williams @mxwilliams]

@GregCook2011 @a16z Kant claims we have no access to the territory, things as they are, only access to maps and representations.

[Michael Williams @mxwilliams]

@GregCook2011 @a16z Kant claims we have no access to the territory, things as they are, only access to maps and representations.

[Michael Williams @mxwilliams]

"Why do people talk about Elon Musk so much?"

[Michael Williams @mxwilliams]

@signulll I twin-post the same things to both apps, and get more engagement on LI. I don't like to think of myself as the kind of person who earns more engagement on LI than on X. Woe, woe.

[Michael Williams @mxwilliams]

@robinhanson Cultural appropriation from Christianity. The word "sin" has no moral weight in a secular context. The writer is trying to piggyback on moral authority he doesn't recognize as legitimate.

[Michael Williams @mxwilliams]

@erikfinman Humanity is 1e4 times wealthier than when classic Paris was built. Space yes, but every city on earth should also be more beautiful than Paris. Including Paris.

[Michael Williams @mxwilliams]

@erikfinman Humanity is 1e4 times wealthier than when classic Paris was built. Space yes, but every city on earth should also be more beautiful than Paris. Including Paris.

[Michael Williams @mxwilliams]

@signulll Voice control is far lower bandwidth than mouse and keyboard. IME, voice input is great for conversing with LLMs, but I still want to read the response.