Basically the cyberpunk equivalent of Pascal's wager—i.e., if you're aware of God/the basilisk but choose not to accept Him as your savior/contribute to its development, you *might* be condemned to hell/trapped in a torture simulation in a hypothetical future where God/the basilisk is actually real.
I find its concepts marginally interesting, but not in an "I'm 14 and this is deep" way—more in a sense of "How can I deconstruct/subvert this to make it not completely fucking stupid?"
new to me, 2010 for a popular thought experiment is total meme-stock territory.. im smelling "the humanoids, more than anything else i can think of. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Humanoids
There's nothing like assuming your conclusion is true to lead to bullshit thinking. It's the primary fallacy of the vast majority of crackpottery, pseudo-science and conspiracy theory.
Weird how the target audience also keeps getting richer by orders of magnitude each time.
Mormons : normal people,
Scientologists : need to have thousands in disposable income,
Roko: almost exclusively venture capital funds throwing money at shitty image generators, hoping they gain sentience.
Mario 64 is basically a cult. Mario 64 was also recently completely de-compiled into Pseudo-code so technically the religion of Mario 64 is based off Pseudo-code. :)
Yeah in all seriousness I know you're just making a joke, but when people really mean this (I see this exact take and variations thereof) it's very unnuanced.
Like okay, maybe at the level of EXTREME dogmatism since that implies lack of critical thought, shutting your brain off
But there's so much variation in how much individual interpretation, degree of liberalism versus interpretation of symbolism/metaphor/context across religious AND spiritual populations
Okay so Digimon Tamers vs Political Correctness feels SO off base from the actual show, right? It literally reads like incredibly weird fanfic or fanwork generally (since it's a play).
Oh if I'd known about that in middle school, and OF COURSE taken my own spin of the digital magic all myths are true approach...good God idek what rabbithole I'd be down
Like...you don't even want to know where my mind was at the time, I'll just leave it at that 😵💫😵💫
HAHAHAHAHA this blew up Oppenheimer-style; I didn't realise how many people hadn't heard of the Basilisk before, and by Roko's own logic I've doomed you all to an eternity of horror in a Harlan Ellison novel. Sorry about that.
Don’t worry; I don’t care enough about my actual physical future self not to give myself an ice cream headache so I’m pretty sure “your future hologram” isn’t the stakes they think it is
To be fair the scenario does include:
(1) how do you know *you* aren’t the copy?
(2) note that a computer that can make one copy can potentially make hundred or thousands of copies, enough to make the odds that you are the original vanishingly small.
The real problem is: how does Roko’s Basilisk know that *I’m* not simulating *it*, for the same reasons the Rationalists imagine it might be simulating me?
Realistically tho, roko can only affect altuniverse past. So we'd be dealing with another universe roko in which predictive analysis is unrealistic due to a lack of frame of reference and alt world dataset. Alt uni rokos would not likely be behooved to help each other either.
Then again there is credence with the existence of FTL lasers. But someone would have to decipher, actively listen, and act upon the communication in order for Roko to do any damage.
I know this is damn near a cliche point to make at this point, but I make it anyway because it's so absurdly fucking accurate & precise with regard to their nonsense
Pascal’s wager falls apart when you realize that it exists for every religion which excludes outsiders from its version of heaven. If I go Christian all my life because there’s a chance it’s real and then Islam is right? Straight to hell. Really, if I go Christian but it’s the wrong sect, Hell.
I remember getting into this exact point with an ex-friend of mine years ago. It is insane to me the lengths that some people will go to in order to sincerely believe nonsense.
Excellent video about this
Also interesting to note that this time it’s not as formally organized. But that might change in future https://youtu.be/jk2aUz00_AY
This may have become one of those things that liberal arts major-trust fund guy who sells mushrooms and only talks to you if you’re a ‘cute girl’-type dudes say when you’re stuck in a living room with them.
Like “fractals”, “anything at all about WW2”, or “anything about a progrock band you never
Damn you see one of the things that is the most "programmer guys who didn’t like human art" ever existed, which just by the jump you see histories of computer science people who don't take humanities classes talking and go the total 180
Oh, to be clear, I say this as a lifetime prog fan.
I’ve met other fans though who seem to be the same type of dude like I described where they want to just yap about one band or album at you rather than have a convo about music 🙃
Wasn't Roko's basilisk also like endorsed by the writer (and fans) of Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality? That one fanfic where Harry is supposed to be a big smartass?
No, Yudkowsky instantly realised it was a very dangerous meme and banned discussion of it on his forums. But Roko came out of that whole rationalist culture, so it's a real FAFO situatoin for Yudkowsky
Comments
On its own, it's lame.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Humanoids
1. It is an equally valid scenario
2. Was the plot to I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream, which is a better read than anything on a dedicated rationalist site.
Mormons : normal people,
Scientologists : need to have thousands in disposable income,
Roko: almost exclusively venture capital funds throwing money at shitty image generators, hoping they gain sentience.
FIXING COCKFIGHTS!
PUBLISHING INDECENT MAGAZINES!
Like okay, maybe at the level of EXTREME dogmatism since that implies lack of critical thought, shutting your brain off
Like...you don't even want to know where my mind was at the time, I'll just leave it at that 😵💫😵💫
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/part-one-the-zizians-how-harry-potter-fanfic-inspired/id1373812661?i=1000698710498 @iwriteok.bsky.social
https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262049207/tech-agnostic/
Anyway, check out my Bandcamp https://vostoklakenz.bandcamp.com/album/comics-and-stories
Oh no...
Many people treat chatGPT as an omniscient being.
“It’s a copy.”
“But what if…?”
“That would suck, but it is not me. It’s a copy.”
It’s not the inextricable philosophical trap they think it is.
(1) how do you know *you* aren’t the copy?
(2) note that a computer that can make one copy can potentially make hundred or thousands of copies, enough to make the odds that you are the original vanishingly small.
Life is the contiguous experience of existing in a fixed space in a fix body. There are theories of other ways to exist, but that’s one we got.
I have empathy for an abused copy, but they are not me.
I would have existential feelings about being a copy, but neither the original or other copies are me.
Software and hardware are inextricable, which limits Silicon Valley’s “computer is all” ideologies.
You would reach more people, when you add a good description into the Alt-text field.
That is pretty easy, especially, when your image just contain text.
This way, you support visually impaired people and everyone else, who rely on a good filled Alt-text.
#accessibility
The basilisk isn't the thing that punishes you in the future; being exposed to the idea is what causes harm
https://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/blit.htm
people near you preaching some religion is more evidence of that religion, so you have to do that.
other people would have to do a different religion.
This isn't 'objective' but you're a subjective agent and have the obligation to act like one.
Pascal's Wager also pretends like there isn't a cost to faith, when there often is.
Christianity's "Original Sin" was one of the things that drove me into deep self-loathing depression as a teen.
For people who are actively 🌈 in some way, I can only imagine it's even worse.
I thought I was the only other person who'd made that exact same connection in the exact same words!
As soon as I realized that, I understood why Roko's Basilisk make me so utterly incensed with it.
21st century new mormonism is going to be so fascinating
Also interesting to note that this time it’s not as formally organized. But that might change in future
https://youtu.be/jk2aUz00_AY
Only difference is Yudkowski is still alive while there are Peters and Pauls aplenty bickering over the new direction of his faith...
Praise the Omnissiah
Like “fractals”, “anything at all about WW2”, or “anything about a progrock band you never
I think this is one of those things.
I’ve met other fans though who seem to be the same type of dude like I described where they want to just yap about one band or album at you rather than have a convo about music 🙃
https://bsky.app/profile/mcclain142.bsky.social/post/3lmp74srze22z