Nick Terner

Software, technology and science. Eternally curious.

[Nick Terner @somenick]

Leaving the dark side of the sun

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

Time to make the mind of a sentient sun

[Kamel Amin Thaabet @K_AminThaabet]

To purport to have an answer for everything is ignorance. To say “I don’t know” when you don’t know is candor.

[Nick Terner @somenick]

@K_AminThaabet The Gaza neurons genocide

[Prof. Carl Sagan @ProfCarlSagan]

Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.

- Isaac Asimov

[Nick Terner @somenick]

@AngeloCivico @AndIknow7 @trash_italiano I really want to steal that... The Gaza neurons genocide

[Nick Terner @somenick]

@emollick https://t.co/YyqS8NaYwU

[Nick Terner @somenick]

@JustLuai I occasionally wonder whether the outsized effort and patience and constant disappointment trying to explain and reason with people blinded by whatever it is, is worth it.
And then you remind us that sometimes it is. Maybe that's enough.
Thank you.

[planefag @planefag]

THIS.

[Nick Terner @somenick]

@fbmarc @peterrhague In terms of ROI, science+academia are a govt jobs program on par with SLS. It'd be far easier to go back to direct patronage, and leave science to people who'd put their own money at stake. Of course, they'd also reap most of the rewards.

P. S. Asimov was way ahead of you...

[Nick Terner @somenick]

@planefag Waaaaaait....
Does this mean Helion and TAE are dead in the water? They don't appear to be. What does your twitter person actually know?
I've been tracking fusion start ups for 20 years, and these two haven't been declared dead yet!

[Nick Terner @somenick]

@TheWizardTower Well put.

The real problem with the red/blue framing is the unrealistic choice collapse. Very useful as a philosophical discussion topic, but utterly impractical. Just like socialism.

[Nick Terner @somenick]

@VictorTaelin Why doesn't option 2 work in practice - on the response -since that's what you end up doing manually? If the output is expensive on time/tokens, then detailed thinking and augmenting/redirecting it is the solution IMO

[Nick Terner @somenick]

@ToughSf Now I want to read Protector again

[Nick Terner @somenick]

@Osint613 Huh?
https://t.co/FGsvV8GSUK

[ME24 - Middle East 24 @MiddleEast_24]

Oman has said it is not aware of any planned visit by Iran’s foreign minister, amid reports suggesting a possible diplomatic trip.

[Nick Terner @somenick]

@DanaGat1 💔

[Nick Terner @somenick]

@planefag @miyaman77 @AiPinfu2003 I wonder about the social dynamics in Japan... If "reading the atmosphere" is so important, then whoever doesn't is the authority. And is in a way, being explicitly granted that authority. Does that seem right?

[Nick Terner @somenick]

@hahussain Lemme try:

No more aid to idiots!

Write to your local representative to demand they.... fire themselves?! Ohhh

* Statistically speaking. No specific claims implied. If you're insulted, have a conversation with the mirror.

[Nick Terner @somenick]

@planefag While commendable, this is also quite exceptional. Somebody with less justified confidence can cause more harm than good in such a situation.
Basically he had the luck to be the right guy in the right place. Not a small thing, but uncommon probably.

[Nick Terner @somenick]

@AGHamilton29 That's the grift, ain't it?
Taxes and slow decline are nigh invisible compared to money on the counter.

[Nick Terner @somenick]

> beliefs matter. If your beliefs are this consequential, you’d better be sure they are right.

Have I found the angle on "strong opinions, weakly held" that I actually like? I think so... And the added bonus is it's quantifiable!

[Sarah Haider 👾 @SarahTheHaider]

If you think killing and eating shrimp is morally equivalent to the holocaust, then you are a bad person if you don’t use everything in your means to stop it.

The difference between “animal welfare matters” and “animal suffering is morally equivalent to human suffering” is a difference in kind, not just degree.

This is why people are pointing to doomer rhetoric as “extreme”. But I disagree with them, because I don’t think doomers are saying “we’re all going to die” because it’s inflammatory, I think they actually believe this is a frighteningly possible outcome. Therefore, it’s morally incumbent on them to speak plainly.

However, the highly predictable result (and indeed, logical, depending on which other premises you hold or do not hold) is that someone will attempt to kill or maim developers of AI.

So doomers are stuck with two bad options. Either downplay the risk, in the hopes of preventing another attack. Or, speak truthfully. But the cost of that is what it is, the risk of violence is real. The blood isn’t—I repeat—isn’t—on their hands. But they are weakening the foundation of something. If it shatters, in one individual or many, they can’t pretend they had nothing to do with it, and frankly it is deeply discrediting to try.

This is where I take out my old dead beating horse: beliefs matter. If your beliefs are this consequential, you’d better be sure they are right.

[Nick Terner @somenick]

@hahussain Bahrain is in a similar position to Kuwait