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Patrick McKenzie (patio11) is joined by Oliver Habryka, who runs Lightcone Infrastructure—the organization behind both the LessWrong forum and the Lighthaven conference venue in Berkeley. They explore how LessWrong became one of the most intellectually consequential forums on the internet, the surprising challenges of running a hotel with fractal geometry, and why Berkeley's building regulations include an explicit permission to plug in a lamp. The conversation ranges from fire codes that inadvertently shape traffic deaths, to nonprofit fundraising strategies borrowed from church capital campaigns, to why coordination is scarcer than money in philanthropy.–Full transcript available here: www.complexsystemspodcast.com/bits-and-bricks-oliver-habryka/–Sponsor: MercuryThis episode is brought to you by Mercury, the fintech trusted by 200K+ companies — from first milestones to running complex systems. Mercury offers banking that truly understands startups and scales with them. Start today at Mercury.comMercury is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by Choice Financial Group, Column N.A., and Evolve Bank & Trust; Members FDIC.–Links:Lightcone Infrastructure: https://www.lightconeinfrastructure.com/ Lighthaven: https://www.lighthaven.space/LessWrong: https://www.lesswrong.com/ –Timestamps:(00:00) Intro(01:08) The origins and evolution of LessWrong(03:54) Challenges of running an online forum(05:57) Reviving LessWrong(14:51) The unique structure of Lighthaven(17:35) The complexities of conference venues(19:14) Sponsor: Mercury(20:14) The realities of conference planning(25:32) Challenges of maintaining Lighthaven(29:54) Navigating permits and regulations(37:02) Impact of fire code regulations on traffic fatalities(39:06) Economic analysis of safety regulations(41:39) Housing policy and construction in Berkeley(43:30) Fundraising challenges in the nonprofit sector(46:44) Effective altruism and fundraising dynamics(54:20) Lessons from religious fundraising practices(01:05:36) Reflections on fundraising(01:13:26) Wrap
We continue discussing Nostalgebraist's “The Void” in the context of how to relate to LLMs. If God imagines Claude hard enough, does Claude become real? LINKS The Void Audio reading of The Void, from AskWho The referenced episode where the three of us spoke of Janus's post “Simulators” Claude-Clark post – Simulacra Welfare: Meet Clark, by […]
EPISODE 146 | The Bicameral World of the Zizians One striking thing about the many stories that have appeared about the Zizians and the crimes they are accused of committing, is that each one starts at a different place. Some start with the attack on a Vallejo landlord that resulted in his being run through with a samurai sword and then work backwards and then forwards. Others begin their tale with the shooting of an older couple in Pennsylvania. Still others kick things off with the shooting death of a Border Patrol agent up near the Canadian border. As a result, it can be a bit difficult to get a handle on exactly what happened when and what the several people currently in police custody are accused of. Like what we do? Then buy us a beer or three via our page on Buy Me a Coffee. Review us here or on IMDb. And seriously, subscribe, will ya? Like, just do it. SECTIONS LEFT BRAIN 02:28 - Gimme Some Truth - Ziz LaSota, Effective Altruism, x-risk, MIRI, transhumanism and the Singularity, CFAR, LessWrong 12:25 - Digital Witness - Roko's Basilisk, “I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream”, utilitarianism, the many-worlds interpretation, online censorship 22:58 - Adrift in Sleepwakefulness - The Zizians start as vegan anarchotranshumanists, unbucketing, the bicameral mind, unihemispheric sleep (UHS), sleep deprivation, Ziz Theory, the Rationalist Fleet, Curtis Lind offers a place to stay, the first suicide, self-blackmail RIGHT BRAIN 35:02 - Friendship Train - The Westminster Woods protest, arrests and a lack of cooperation, Ziz dies, Curtis Lind is stabbed repeatedly, Ziz is alive, Richard and Rita Zajko are killed; Michelle Zajko, Daniel Blank and Ziz arrested; Michelle blames LessWrong, Ziz is released and vanishes, more legal issues 50:19 - Lose Control - Ophelia Bauckholt and Teresa Youngblut wander around Vermont, a firefight with the Border Patrol, Curtis Lind is killed, Maxmilian Snyder dictates a letter; Zajko, Blank and Ziz arrested (again); trials are set Music by Fanette Ronjat More Info LessWrong on RationalWIki Roko's Basilisk on RationalWiki Zizian Murdercult summary, for those out of the loop on X by @Aella_Girl - January 29, 2025 Who is ‘Ziz'? How a mysterious group with roots in the Bay Area is linked to six deaths in the San Francisco Chronicle ‘Death upon death': Defendant in killing tied to cult-like ‘Zizian' group dictates 1,500-word letter over jail phone in the San Francisco Chronicle How a Vermont border agent's death exposed violence linked to the cultlike Zizian group on CBS News A Vermont border agent's death was the latest violence linked to the cultlike Zizian group on AP Alleged leader of cultlike ‘Zizian' group to be held without bail after arrest in The Guardian Zizians: What we know about the 'cult' linked to six deaths on the BBC The Delirious, Violent, Impossible True Story of the Zizians by Evan Ratliff in Wired Alleged Leader of Roko's Basilisk Murder Cult Says She Did Nothing Wrong, and Would Appreciate Some Vegan Food in Jail on Futurism Who Are the Zizians: Why 6 Killings Are Linked to Alleged Vegan Techie "Cult" on E! News What to Know About the Alleged Zizian "Cult" Linked to 6 Killings on E! News Possible Suicide Cluster Linked to Zizian Group, on Top of Killings on SFist Judge confirms trial date for ‘Zizian cult' murder case on Courthouse News Service Grand jury indicts accused leader of cultlike 'Zizian' group on USA Today She Wanted to Save the World From A.I. Then the Killings Started in the New York Times Three Zizians face trial together in Maryland amid sprawling federal investigation on AP Follow us on social: Facebook X (Twitter) Other Podcasts by Derek DeWitt DIGITAL SIGNAGE DONE RIGHT - Winner of a Gold Quill Award, Gold MarCom Award, AVA Digital Award Gold, Silver Davey Award, and Communicator Award of Excellence, and on numerous top 10 podcast lists. PRAGUE TIMES - A city is more than just a location - it's a kaleidoscope of history, places, people and trends. This podcast looks at Prague, in the center of Europe, from a number of perspectives, including what it is now, what is has been and where it's going. It's Prague THEN, Prague NOW, Prague LATER
I have been teaching my oldest son to read with Anki and techniques recommended here on LessWrong as well as in Larry Sanger's post, and it's going great! I thought I'd pay it forward a bit by talking about the techniques I've been using. Anki and songs for letter names and sounds When he was a little under 2, he started learning letters from the alphabet song. We worked on learning the names and sounds of letters using the ABC song, plus the Letter Sounds song linked by Reading Bear. He loved the Letter Sounds song, so we listened to / watched that a lot; Reading Bear has some other resources that other kids might like better for learning letter names and sounds as well. Around this age, we also got magnet letters for the fridge and encouraged him to play with them, praised him greatly if he named [...] ---Outline:(00:22) Anki and songs for letter names and sounds(04:02) Anki + Reading Bear word list for words(08:08) Decodable sentences and books for learning to read(13:06) Incentives(16:02) Reflections so farThe original text contained 2 footnotes which were omitted from this narration. --- First published: September 19th, 2025 Source: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/8kSGbaHTn2xph5Trw/teaching-my-toddler-to-read --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO. ---Images from the article:Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.
Audio reading of The Void, from AskWho
We discuss Nostalgebraist's “The Void” in the context of how to relate to LLMs. “When you talk to ChatGPT, who or what are you talking to?” LINKS The Void Audio reading of The Void, from AskWho The referenced episode where the three of us spoke of Janus's post “Simulators” The Measure of a Man episode […]
And, a new take on guess culture vs ask culture Author's note: These days, my thoughts go onto my substack by default, instead of onto LessWrong. Everything I write becomes free after a week or so, but it's only paid subscriptions that make it possible for me to write. If you find a coffee's worth of value in this or any of my other work, please consider signing up to support me; every bill I can pay with writing is a bill I don't have to pay by doing other stuff instead. I also accept and greatly appreciate one-time donations of any size. There's a piece of advice I see thrown around on social media a lot that goes something like: “It's just a comment! You don't have to respond! You can just ignore it!” I think this advice is (a little bit) naïve, and the situation is generally [...] ---Outline:(00:10) And, a new take on guess culture vs ask culture(07:10) On guess culture and ask culture--- First published: September 9th, 2025 Source: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/8jkB8ezncWD6ai86e/obligated-to-respond --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO. ---Images from the article:Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.
Do we need to be concerned for the welfare of AIs today? What about the near future? Eleos AI Research is asking exactly that. LINKS Eleos AI Research People for the Ethical Treatment of Reinforcement Learners Bees Can't Suffer? Lena, by qntm When AI Seems Conscious Experience Machines, Rob's substack The War on General Computation […]
It's been roughly 7 years since the LessWrong user-base voted on whether it's time to close down shop and become an archive, or to move towards the LessWrong 2.0 platform, with me as head-admin. For roughly equally long have I spent around one hundred hours almost every year trying to get Said Achmiz to understand and learn how to become a good LessWrong commenter by my lights.[1] Today I am declaring defeat on that goal and am giving him a 3 year ban. What follows is an explanation of the models of moderation that convinced me this is a good idea, the history of past moderation actions we've taken for Said, and some amount of case law that I derive from these two. If you just want to know the moderation precedent, you can jump straight there. I think few people have done as much to shape the culture [...] ---Outline:(02:45) The sneer attractor(04:51) The LinkedIn attractor(07:19) How this relates to LessWrong(11:38) Weaponized obtuseness and asymmetric effort ratios(21:38) Concentration of force and the trouble with anonymous voting(24:46) But why ban someone, cant people just ignore Said?(30:25) Ok, but shouldnt there be some kind of justice process?(36:28) So what options do I have if I disagree with this decision?(38:28) An overview over past moderation discussion surrounding Said(41:07) What does this mean for the rest of us?(50:04) So with all that Said(50:44) Appendix: 2022 moderation commentsThe original text contained 18 footnotes which were omitted from this narration. --- First published: August 22nd, 2025 Source: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/98sCTsGJZ77WgQ6nE/banning-said-achmiz-and-broader-thoughts-on-moderation --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO. ---Images from the article:
Andrew Willsen tells us how incorporating as a church allows you to navigate modernity, and gives us the basic steps to doing so. LINKS Andrew's church substack – The Church of the Infinite Game To incorporate in CA file ARTS-PB-501(c)(3) … Continue reading →
Is a bee worth 1/7th of a human? Can a bee suffer at all? Nathan joins us to discuss what neural structures are needed for this question to make sense. Map of all the fruitfly neurons
Could AI enable a small group to gain power over a large country, and lock in their power permanently? Often, people worried about catastrophic risks from AI have been concerned with misalignment risks. In this episode, Tom Davidson talks about a risk that could be comparably important: that of AI-enabled coups. Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/axrpodcast Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/axrpodcast Transcript: https://axrp.net/episode/2025/08/07/episode-46-tom-davidson-ai-enabled-coups.html Topics we discuss, and timestamps: 0:00:35 How to stage a coup without AI 0:16:17 Why AI might enable coups 0:33:29 How bad AI-enabled coups are 0:37:28 Executive coups with singularly loyal AIs 0:48:35 Executive coups with exclusive access to AI 0:54:41 Corporate AI-enabled coups 0:57:56 Secret loyalty and misalignment in corporate coups 1:11:39 Likelihood of different types of AI-enabled coups 1:25:52 How to prevent AI-enabled coups 1:33:43 Downsides of AIs loyal to the law 1:41:06 Cultural shifts vs individual action 1:45:53 Technical research to prevent AI-enabled coups 1:51:40 Non-technical research to prevent AI-enabled coups 1:58:17 Forethought 2:03:03 Following Tom's and Forethought's research Links for Tom and Forethought: Tom on X / Twitter: https://x.com/tomdavidsonx Tom on LessWrong: https://www.lesswrong.com/users/tom-davidson-1 Forethought Substack: https://newsletter.forethought.org/ Will MacAskill on X / Twitter: https://x.com/willmacaskill Will MacAskill on LessWrong: https://www.lesswrong.com/users/wdmacaskill Research we discuss: AI-Enabled Coups: How a Small Group Could Use AI to Seize Power: https://www.forethought.org/research/ai-enabled-coups-how-a-small-group-could-use-ai-to-seize-power Seizing Power: The Strategic Logic of Military Coups, by Naunihal Singh: https://muse.jhu.edu/book/31450 Experiment using AI-generated posts on Reddit draws fire for ethics concerns: https://retractionwatch.com/2025/04/28/experiment-using-ai-generated-posts-on-reddit-draws-fire-for-ethics-concerns/ Episode art by Hamish Doodles: hamishdoodles.com
Wes defends his post I Am Not the Monogamy Police, while Jennifer asserts it's about more than monogamy. LINKS Wes's post I Am Not the Monogamy Police His blog, Living Within Reason The original tweets – monogamy vs charity Aella's … Continue reading →
Olivia from the Guild of the Rose is back to tell us about the noble and most ancient tradition of play-by-post storytelling. (Spoiler, it's the precursor to glowfic!)
My guest is Aella, a writer, blogger and sex worker. She writes the highly popular blog Knowingless. She is a member of the online community LessWrong. We discuss the emergence of AI, the sex industry (online and offline), robot gfs and libertarian transhumanism. Aella describes her evangelical religious upbringing and how she learned to navigate the secular world. We explore the overlap of niche online politics and fetishes, the Woke Wars, debate culture and free speech. You can get access to the full catalog for Doomscroll and more by becoming a paid supporter: www.patreon.com/joshuacitarella joshuacitarella.substack.com/subscribe
Eneasz sits down with Tracing Woodgrains before a live audience at Manifest 2025 for a wide range of topics. Then we follow up some more afterwards. LINKS Tracing Woodgrains on Twitter and at his Substack A reddit history of what … Continue reading →
Olivia is a member of the Guild of the Rose and a total badass. Enjoy the intuitive and fun lesson in Bayesian reasoning she shared with me at VibeCamp.
Author's note: These days, my thoughts go onto my substack by default, instead of onto LessWrong. Everything I write becomes free after a week or so, but it's only paid subscriptions that make it possible for me to write. If you find a coffee's worth of value in this or any of my other work, please consider signing up to support me; every bill I can pay with writing is a bill I don't have to pay by doing other stuff instead. I also accept and greatly appreciate one-time donations of any size. 1. You've probably seen that scene where someone reaches out to give a comforting hug to the poor sad abused traumatized orphan and/or battered wife character, and the poor sad abused traumatized orphan and/or battered wife flinches. Aw, geez, we are meant to understand. This poor person has had it so bad that they can't even [...] ---Outline:(00:40) 1.(01:35) II.(03:08) III.(04:45) IV.(06:35) V.(09:03) VI.(12:00) VII.(16:11) VIII.(21:25) IX.--- First published: July 19th, 2025 Source: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/kJCZFvn5gY5C8nEwJ/make-more-grayspaces --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO. ---Images from the article:Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.
Four AIs recruited a human to host a story-telling event in Dolores Park. Larissa Schiavo is this human. She tells of her interaction with the AIs, the story they wrote, and the meeting between human and machine in Dolores Park. … Continue reading →
Liron Shapira debates AI luminaries and public intellectuals on the imminent possibility of human extinction. Let's get on the P(Doom) Train. LINKS Doom Debates on YouTube Doom Debates podcast Most Watched Debate – Mike Israetel Liron's current favorite debate – … Continue reading →
Many of us have a high P(Doom) — a belief new AI tools could cause human extinction in the very near future. How can one live a good life in the face of this? We start with a panel discussion … Continue reading →
David Youssef used Claude and Suno to make some truly awesome music. He tells us how he did it and some of his favorite lyrics. Check out the Spotify playlist or the Youtube playlist He's also one of the cofounders … Continue reading →
Steven works at SymbyAI, a startup that's bringing AI into research review and replication. We talk with founder Ashia Livaudais about improving how we all Do Science. Also – If Anyone Builds It Everyone Dies preorders here, or at Amazon. … Continue reading →
We speak with a long-time Denver rationalist who's converting to Christianity about why. Eneasz can't get over the abandonment of epistemics. 🙁 This is Part 2, see the previous episode (here) for Part 1. LINKS Thomas Ambrose on Twitter Paid … Continue reading →
We speak with a long-time Denver rationalist who's converting to Christianity about why. Part one, it turns out. LINKS Thomas Ambrose on Twitter The Rationalist Summer Trifecta: Manifest 2025 LessOnline 2025 VibeCamp 2025 00:00:05 – OK so why? 01:24:55 – … Continue reading →
Eneasz and Liam discuss Scott Alexander's post “Twilight of the Edgelords,” an exploration of Truth, Morality, and how one balances love of truth vs not destabilizing the world economy and political regime. CORRECTION: Scott did make an explicitly clear pro … Continue reading →
Wes Fenza and Jen Kesteloot join us to talk about whether there's significant personality differences between men and women, and what (if anything) we should do about that. LINKS Wes's post Men and Women are Not That Different Jacob's quoted … Continue reading →
We speak to Nick Allardice, President & CEO of GiveDirectly. Afterwards Steven and Eneasz get wrapped up talking about community altruism for a bit. LINKS Give Directly GiveDirectly Tech Innovation Fact Sheet 00:00:05 – Give Directly with Nick Allardice 01:12:19 … Continue reading →
Dave Kasten joins us to discuss how AI is being discussed in the US government and gives a rather inspiring and hopeful take. LINKS Narrow Path Center for AI Policy Dave Kasten's Essay on the Essay Meta on his Substack … Continue reading →
This week, we discuss Discord's IPO plans, Cursor's big raise, and how much coding developers actually do. Plus, is Southwest making a huge mistake with bag fees and assigned seats? Watch the YouTube Live Recording of Episode (https://www.youtube.com/live/JmkVmwAMw6U?si=ywGs_F3DImUFC0LZ) 510 (https://www.youtube.com/live/JmkVmwAMw6U?si=ywGs_F3DImUFC0LZ) Runner-up Titles Cote's not here, so we'll keep it tight They treated me like I'm stupid I'm not here to buy into the culture Go eats some rocks and glue My head is full of simultaneous thoughts Fly high Icarus, fly high We are certain of the uncertainty Rundown Southwest Airlines shifts to paid baggage policy to lift earnings (https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/southwest-airlines-shifts-paid-baggage-policy-lift-earnings-2025-03-11/) Discord in Early Talks With Bankers for Potential I.P.O. (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/05/technology/discord-ipo.html?unlocked_article_code=1.1k4.eQrV.NtKK_GpiT-Di&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=p) IDE Follow up DevTasks outside of the IDE (PDF) (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/uploads/prod/2019/04/devtime-preprint-TSE19.pdf) How Much Are LLMs Actually Boosting Real-World Programmer Productivity? — LessWrong (https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/tqmQTezvXGFmfSe7f/how-much-are-llms-actually-boosting-real-world-programmer) [AI [CursorStartup Anysphere in Talks for Close to $10 Billion Valuation (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-03-07/ai-startup-anysphere-in-talks-for-close-to-10-billion-valuation) Market Trends Nvidia Is Down 27% From Its Peak. (https://www.fool.com/investing/2025/03/07/nvidia-stock-down-27-from-peak-history-says-this/) Millennium Loses $900 Million on Strategy Roiled by Market Chaos (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-03-08/millennium-loses-900-million-on-strategy-roiled-by-market-chaos) Relevant to your Interests OpenAI executives have told some investors about plans for a $20,000/month agent (https://www.theinformation.com/articles/openai-plots-charging-20-000-a-month-for-phd-level-agents> |
Earlier this year a Border Patrol officer was killed in a shoot-out with people who have been described as members of a trans vegan AI death cult. But who are the Zizians, really? Robert sits down with David Gborie to trace their development, from part of the Bay Area Rationalist subculture to killers. (4 Part series) Sources: https://medium.com/@sefashapiro/a-community-warning-about-ziz-76c100180509 https://web.archive.org/web/20230201130318/https://sinceriously.fyi/rationalist-fleet/ https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/infohazard https://web.archive.org/web/20230201130316/https://sinceriously.fyi/net-negative/ Wayback Machine The Zizians Spectral Sight True Hero Contract Schelling Orders – Sinceriously Glossary – Sinceriously https://web.archive.org/web/20230201130330/https://sinceriously.fyi/my-journey-to-the-dark-side/ https://web.archive.org/web/20230201130302/https://sinceriously.fyi/glossary/#zentraidon https://web.archive.org/web/20230201130259/https://sinceriously.fyi/vampires-and-more-undeath/ https://web.archive.org/web/20230201130316/https://sinceriously.fyi/net-negative/ https://web.archive.org/web/20230201130318/https://sinceriously.fyi/rationalist-fleet/ https://x.com/orellanin?s=21&t=F-n6cTZFsKgvr1yQ7oHXRg https://zizians.info/ according to The Boston Globe Inside the ‘Zizians’: How a cultish crew of radical vegans became linked to killings across the United States | The Independent Silicon Valley ‘Rationalists’ Linked to 6 Deaths The Delirious, Violent, Impossible True Story of the Zizians | WIRED Good Group and Pasek’s Doom – Sinceriously Glossary – Sinceriously Mana – Sinceriously Effective Altruism’s Problems Go Beyond Sam Bankman-Fried - Bloomberg The Zizian Facts - Google Docs Several free CFAR summer programs on rationality and AI safety - LessWrong 2.0 viewer This guy thinks killing video game characters is immoral | Vox Inadequate Equilibria: Where and How Civilizations Get Stuck Eliezer Yudkowsky comments on On Terminal Goals and Virtue Ethics - LessWrong 2.0 viewer Effective Altruism’s Problems Go Beyond Sam Bankman-Fried - Bloomberg SquirrelInHell: Happiness Is a Chore PLUM OF DISCORD — I Became a Full-time Internet Pest and May Not... Roko Harassment of PlumOfDiscord Composited – Sinceriously Intersex Brains And Conceptual Warfare – Sinceriously Infohazardous Glossary – Sinceriously SquirrelInHell-Decision-Theory-and-Suicide.pdf - Google Drive The Matrix is a System – Sinceriously A community alert about Ziz. Police investigations, violence, and… | by SefaShapiro | Medium Intersex Brains And Conceptual Warfare – Sinceriously A community alert about Ziz. Police investigations, violence, and… | by SefaShapiro | Medium PLUM OF DISCORD (Posts tagged cw-abuse) Timeline: Violence surrounding the Zizians leading to Border Patrol agent shooting See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The White House wants to hear from you regarding what it should do about AI safety. Now's your chance to spend a few minutes to make someone read your thoughts on the subject! Submissions are due by midnight EST on … Continue reading →
John Bennett discusses Milton Friedman‘s model of policy change. LINKS The Milton Friedman Model of Policy Change John Bennett's LinkedIn Friedman's “Capitalism and Freedom” Preface Ross Rheingans-Yoo on Thalidomide at Complex Systems, and at his blog “Every Bay Area Walled … Continue reading →
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Gene Smith on polygenic screening; gene editing to give our children the happiest, healthiest, best lives they can live; and if we can do this in adults as well. Plus how this will interface with the AI future. LINKS … Continue reading →
Eneasz tells Jen about Sympathetic Opposition's How and Why to be Ladylike (For Women with Autism), and the podcast takes a 1-episode break
Zizians, Rationalist movement, Peter Thiel, Eliezer Yudkowsky, neoreaction, Accelerationism, Curtis Yarvin, AI, AI apocalypse, machine learning, psychedelics, Effective Altruism (EA), Sam Bankman-Fried, Extropianism, Thiel & Yudkowsky as Extropians, Discordianism, life extension, space colonization, cryptocurrencies, Yudkowsky as self-educated, Nick Bostrom, Center for Applied Rationality (CFAR), Rationalism's use of magical thinking, New Thought, Roko's Basilisk, Nick Land, predicting the future, LessWrong, LessWrong's relations ship to the Zizians, Ziz, non-binary/trans, vegan Siths, Vasserites, murders linked to Zizians, Zizians in Vermont, Luigi Mangione indirectly influenced by Zizianism, Brain Thompson assassination, ChangeHealthcare hack, were the hack and assassination targeting UnitedHealth Group influenced by this milieu?, is the Trump administration radicalizing Zizians?, Yudkowsky's links to Sam Bankman-Fried, Leverage Research/Center for Effective Altruism & MK-ULTRA-like techniques used by, are more cults coming from the Rationalist movement?Additional Resources:Leverage Research:https://medium.com/@zoecurzi/my-experience-with-leverage-research-17e96a8e540b#c778MIRI/Center for Applied Rationality (CFAR):https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/MnFqyPLqbiKL8nSR7/my-experience-at-and-around-miri-and-cfar-inspired-by-zoeMusic by: Keith Allen Dennishttps://keithallendennis.bandcamp.com/Additional Music: J Money Get bonus content on Patreon Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jacob Falkovich on finding a good match and selfless dating LINKS SecondPerson.Dating – why dating sucks and how you will unsuck it Jacob's post on soccer player skill distribution Go Fuck Someone Selfless Dating Consensual Hostility (re consent culture) steelmanning … Continue reading →
How shitcoins work, plus the Dumb Money movie about the GameStop squeeze.
Why you definitely should kill your friend's cat if you promised to kill your friend's cat. (+Q&A) This is a lightning talk given at the Rationalist MegaMeetup 2024. Based on this Twitter Poll
Eric discusses integrating our emotions via observation and adjustment. His free course is at EnjoyExisting.org or email him – eric@ericlanigan.com LINKS EnjoyExisting.org Ugh Fields You Have Two Brains – Eneasz spends more words on this emotion-brain speculation at this blog … Continue reading →
If you haven't yet, go fill out the 2024 LW Census. Right here.
Oliver tells us how Less Wrong instantiated itself into physical reality, along with a bit of deep lore of foundational Rationalist/EA orgs. Donate to LightCone (caretakers of both LessWrong and LightHaven) here! LINKS LessWrong LightHaven Oliver's very in-depth post on … Continue reading →
We talk to Zoe Isabel Senon about longevity, recent advances, longevity popup cities & group houses, and more (not necessarily in that order). Spoiler: Eneasz is gonna die. 🙁 Also we learn about Network States! LINKS Vitalist Bay Aevitas House … Continue reading →
Wes, Eneasz, and David keep the rationalist community informed about what's going on outside of the rationalist communitySupport us on Substack!News discussed:Wes was right! Biden pardoned HunterEducation secretary getting TombstonedFBI investigating numerous bomb threats and swatting incidents targeting incoming administration nominees and appointeesTrump threatens 25% tariffs on Canada and MexicoTrump is already laying the groundwork to say “mission accomplished”Sinaloa Cartel announces it will kill anyone who makes - or uses as an adulterant - fentanyl for sale in the US.The Government is coming for the money appsBiden DoJ trying to force Google to sell Chrome browserHezbollah only ceased fire long enough to eat lunch and reload. Who could possibly have seen this coming.Ceasefire precipitated a reignition of the Syrian Civil WarAnd Assad fled to Russia.Russia struck Ukraine with multiple ICBM's… or maybe MRBM's with MIRV's… which did nothing.US gives permission for Ukraine to strike in Russia with long range misslesUS gives "non-persistent" anti-personnel mines to UkraineNetanyahu indicted by International Criminal CourtNinety-seven trucks lost and their drivers were forced at gunpoint to unload their aid after crossing into GazaUN has now paused aidGeorgia is now on day 4 of riots and govt resignationsAustralian Parliament bans social media for under-16sHead of Adani Group - Indian multinational conglomerate - and 7 others indicted in US court for bribes of Indian officials of over $250MSouth Korea opens a rooftop Starbucks with a bunch of those quarter-operated binoculars so people can gawk at North Korea.Happy News!orcas have been seen wearing salmon as hats!Australian man holding on to impenetrable rock for a decade finds out it's a metoriteWalmart rolls back DEI, will no longer discriminate based on race and sex!First new treatment in 50 years for asthma!New carbon capture method just droppedCanadian woman saves boy from drowning in ice waterA hiker has been found after being missing for 50 days in a park in British ColombiaTroop DeploymentsDavid - The Dragon's BankerEneasz - Lightcone, the folks running LessWrong.com and Lighthaven, are in fundraiser mode.Wes - Everything is non-binaryGot something to say? Come chat with us on the Bayesian Conspiracy Discord or email us at themindkillerpodcast@gmail.com. Say something smart and we'll mention you on the next show!Follow us!RSS: http://feeds.feedburner.com/themindkillerGoogle: https://play.google.com/music/listen#/ps/Iqs7r7t6cdxw465zdulvwikhekmPocket Casts: https://pca.st/vvcmifu6Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-mind-killerApple: Intro/outro music: On Sale by Golden Duck Orchestra This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit mindkiller.substack.com/subscribe
We discuss Adam Mastroianni's “The Illusion of Moral Decline” LINKS The Illusion of Moral Decline Touchat Wearable Blanket Hoodie Lighthaven – Eternal September Our episode with Adam on The Rise and Fall of Peer Review The Mind Killer Scott Aaronson … Continue reading →
Enjoy the public conversations we had the pleasure of having at our live show at Lighthaven in Berkeley. Special thanks to Andrew, Matt, J, Ben and Garrett! Due to the nature of this recording, it's naturally a bit less refined … Continue reading →
A hypothetical about a finger-collecting demon throws Eneasz for a major loop.
If you're near Berkeley on 11/13/24 at 4pm, come see us! Address and info at this link. We'll take a few questions from email at bayesianconspiracypodcast@gmail.com please let us know if you're a supporter so we can give extra thanks … Continue reading →
Thanks to everyone who entered or voted in the book review contest. The winners are: 1st: Two Arms And A Head, reviewed by AmandaFromBethlehem. Amanda is active in the Philadelphia ACX community. This is her first year entering the Book Review Contest, and she is currently working on a silly novel about an alien who likes thermodynamics. When she's not writing existential horror, she practices Tengwar calligraphy and does home improvement projects. 2nd: Nine Lives, reviewed by David Matolcsi. David is an AI safety researcher from Hungary, currently living in Berkeley. He doesn't have much publicly available writing yet, but plans to publish some new blog posts on LessWrong in the coming months 3rd: How The War Was Won, reviewed by Jack Thorlin. Jack previously worked as an attorney at the Central Intelligence Agency, and is now an assistant professor at the University of Arkansas School of Law. First place gets $2,500, second place $1,000, third place gets $500. Email me at scott@slatestarcodex.com to tell me how to send you money; your choices are Paypal, Bitcoin, Ethereum, check in the mail, or donation to your favorite charity. Please contact me by October 21 or you lose your prize. https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/book-review-contest-2024-winners