Archives
Ellsberg to Kissenger, on security clearance December 16, 2024
Airbus: upgrading their software UI from “crappy” to “best practice” helped 4x the pace of A350 manufacturing October 16, 2024
Michael Nielsen and others on privacy October 6, 2024
Nick Cammarata on chasing your last few years of intelligence alpha September 20, 2024
OpenAI o1 solves a cipher September 12, 2024
“Learn to do everything lightly” August 8, 2024
”Common sense is often wielded like a gun” June 10, 2024
Notes on Rao on Ooze June 9, 2024
Safe, Unsafe and Universal Singletons June 9, 2024
Conservative progressivism May 10, 2024
“Today’s AI is the worst you’ll ever use.” January 12, 2024
On a similar path, but. January 11, 2024
Holden Karnofsky: the fast takeoff scenario is a key motivation for preemptive AI safety measures January 4, 2024
Are LLMs reasoning or reciting? January 2, 2024
Are LLMs reasoning or reciting? January 2, 2024
Explosive growth from AI automation: A review of the arguments January 1, 2024
Max Tegmark’s list of ASI futures December 28, 2023
Frank Ramsey on the view from somewhere December 28, 2023
A Christmas message from Walter Benjamin December 24, 2023
Tyler Cowen on Malthus December 23, 2023
Mill on Bentham and Coleridge December 19, 2023
Joseph Heath on Kantian evolutionary naturalism (rationality, pragmatism and deontic constraints) December 9, 2023
Sam Altman on The Merge November 30, 2023
Vitalik Buterin on superintelligence: merge or die November 30, 2023
Scott Alexander on conservatism self-preservation-against-optimality urge November 30, 2023
Scott Alexander on liberalism and universal culture November 29, 2023
Michael Nielsen is having second thoughts November 27, 2023
Tyler Cowen on Malthus on vice November 23, 2023
Mapping the debate about desirable futures November 21, 2023
Flo Crivello on entrepreneurship in the present moment November 13, 2023
Richard Ngo on posthuman freedom November 9, 2023
Sam Altman’s closing remarks at OpenAI DevDay November 7, 2023
AI safety and the Last Man November 6, 2023
“The Manifesto of Futurism“ by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti November 6, 2023
The case for the Scaling Hypothesis, in two sentences October 31, 2023
Fin Moorhouse & Max Tegmark on the braids of life October 31, 2023
How to parent your digital children October 24, 2023
Alien invaders vs children vs servants vs tools October 24, 2023
Policy for the day after October 23, 2023
Joscha Bach: meaning is instrumental to life October 23, 2023
Paul Christiano on making AI go well October 22, 2023
Sarah Waker & Lee Cronin on Assembly Theory (and a definition of life) October 13, 2023
The Sun is massive October 8, 2023
Robert Skidelsky on aristocratic self-confidence October 7, 2023
G.A. Cohen on the conservative bias to retain what is of valuable, even in the face of replacing it by something of greater value September 28, 2023
Hilary Greaves on definitions of existential risk September 28, 2023
September assorted links September 26, 2023
Matt Ridley on innovation vs invention September 26, 2023
Richard Danzig on technology roulette and the U.S. military September 25, 2023
Jerry Z Muller on left and right-wing totalitarianism in the early 20th century September 25, 2023
Alien invaders, or children? September 24, 2023
Reading suggestions September 24, 2023
Robin Hanson on the future as reality (read by my digital avatar) September 21, 2023
ChatGPT is a junior engineer today; a senior designer and engineer next year September 21, 2023
Peter Singer on the non-natural origin of the axiom of impartial benevolence September 20, 2023
AI will improve a lot, very soon September 20, 2023
Peter Thiel on the Hegelian tension of AI September 19, 2023
Peter Thiel on the Darwinian view of alignment September 19, 2023
Asmir Gračanin et al. on the function of tears September 19, 2023
Joe Carlsmith on the utilitarian dream September 19, 2023
Joe Carlsmith against “non-naturalistic realism or bust” September 19, 2023
Katherine Dee on despair September 17, 2023
200 IQ and made of meat September 17, 2023
What is AI alignment? September 14, 2023
Tyler Cowen’s core view on AI September 13, 2023
Digital Minds or Butlerian Accord? (Part 1) September 10, 2023
Who will rule the Earth in 2100? September 10, 2023
When you’re writing to learn, very short posts are fine September 9, 2023
@mfweof and @RokoMijic on naturalistic metaethics September 2, 2023
Eliezer Yudkowsky (1999) on a world with nanotechnology August 28, 2023
Kendall Roy on Logan Roy July 11, 2023
Tom Holland on Paul’s Letter to the Galatians March 23, 2023
Carl Schmitt on liberalism February 14, 2023
Otto Petras on the conditions for religious awe February 12, 2023
Chris Cullen: what do you want to naturalise? February 4, 2023
Richard Meadows & Nassim Taleb on FU money January 18, 2023
The last homily of Pope Pius XII January 16, 2023
Marc Andreessen on the heros we’re allowed to have January 15, 2023
Email to Tyler on Bernard Williams & effective altruism January 13, 2023
Jonathan Bi on how to live with a Girardian worldview January 2, 2023
Nick Bostrom on differential technological development November 19, 2022
Nick Bostrom on “turnkey totalitarianism” November 19, 2022
Naturalism, pragmatism, impartiality June 23, 2022
Digital minds: descendents or rivals? June 23, 2022
Iain McGilchrist on the left and right hemispheres June 16, 2022
Pragmatism, evolution & moral philosophy April 22, 2022
Tyler Cowen on axiology: I see the good as more holistic than additive-aggregative April 18, 2022
Reading Robin Hanson April 1, 2022
Robin Hanson on his methods March 22, 2022
Dominic Cummings: given they don’t take nuclear weapons seriously, never assume they’re taking X seriously March 19, 2022
Joe Carlsmith on expected utility maximisation March 19, 2022
Francis Bacon on pragmatism March 15, 2022
Adam Waytz on The Illusion of Explanatory Depth March 3, 2022
Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler on libertarian paternalism February 24, 2022
Holden Karnofsky on utility legions February 22, 2022
Tyler Cowen on historicism and taking sides February 21, 2022
Fallow period February 17, 2022
Eliezer Yudkowsky on naturalism February 16, 2022
Tyler Cowen on who should get more status February 15, 2022
Nick Bostrom on singletons February 14, 2022
Anders Sandberg on transhumanism February 11, 2022
Robin Hanson on world government and collective suicide February 10, 2022
Joe Carlsmith on non-naturalist realism vs anti-realism February 9, 2022
Bernard Williams on Sidgwick and the ambitions of ethics February 8, 2022
John Maynard Keynes on Sidgwick February 7, 2022
End of season 2 January 1, 2022
Tim Urban on cosmology January 1, 2022
Robin Hanson on value drift December 31, 2021
John Richardson on Nietzsche’s metaethics December 30, 2021
Elijah Millgram’s pragmatic critique of internalism December 29, 2021
John Richardson on Nietzsche’s naturalism December 28, 2021
Thoughts on Robin Hanson and David Deutsch on predicting the future December 27, 2021
‘St Paul and All That’, Frank O’Hara December 26, 2021
Report on human augmentation from the UK Ministry of Defence (May 2021) December 25, 2021
Eliezer Yudkowsky: Darwin discovered God December 25, 2021
Robin Hanson: This is the Dream Time December 24, 2021
Comments on “This is the Dream Time” December 24, 2021
Tyler Cowen on moral principles and the margins at which we should give them up December 23, 2021
State credences as fractions to avoid suggesting false precision December 23, 2021
Ross Douthat speculates on religious responses to transformative technology December 22, 2021
Tyler Cowen on Straussian truths and rational choice ethics December 21, 2021
Tyler Cowen on our local cone of value, and the name of his book December 20, 2021
'Other Writers', Leonard Cohen December 19, 2021
Plato was good at wrestling December 18, 2021
Ruth Chang on parity, agency and rational identity December 17, 2021
Holden Karnofsky on visualising utopia December 16, 2021
Richard Rorty on Proust and Hegel December 15, 2021
Richard Rorty on his path from Plato to Hegel to Dewey December 15, 2021
Bernard Williams reviews Nagel on reason December 14, 2021
Thomas Nagel on reason December 14, 2021
Joe Carlsmith on secular love and loyalty December 13, 2021
Maxwell Tabarrok on growth as condition for cooperation December 12, 2021
Robin Hanson: one of our main choices is between competition and governance December 11, 2021
Brian Leiter on naturalism and normativity December 10, 2021
Agnes Callard on philosophy December 9, 2021
Chrisopher Janaway on Nietzsche’s Genealogy December 8, 2021
Nietzsche on metaphysics as symptom December 7, 2021
The realism we’re looking for December 6, 2021
Simon Blackburn on people who think that anti-realism entails nihilism December 5, 2021
Joshua Greeen on utiltiarianism as “deep pragmatism” December 4, 2021
Joe Carlsmith on the importance of how you weigh it December 3, 2021
Elijah Millgram on metaphysics as intellectual ergonomics December 2, 2021
Maximising whims December 1, 2021
What is philosophy? Some answers. November 30, 2021
La Notte November 29, 2021
Parfit’s optimism November 29, 2021
Georges Bataille on Nietzsche November 28, 2021
Cheryl Misak on Ramsey’s pragmatism November 27, 2021
David Pearce on natural conception November 26, 2021
When we read someone else thinks for us November 25, 2021
The atrocious fact of wild animal suffering November 24, 2021
Blogging every day is hard November 23, 2021
C. Thi Nguyen on clarity November 19, 2021
End of season 1 November 18, 2021
Cass Sunstein on Sludge Audits November 18, 2021
Nietzsche on love of fate November 17, 2021
William James on religion, healthy-mindedness, melancholy metaphysicians November 16, 2021
William James on morality and religion November 15, 2021
William James on religion November 14, 2021
Nietzsche on pluralism November 13, 2021
William James on dogmatism and its origins; fruitful pathologies November 12, 2021
Peter Thiel on envy November 11, 2021
Tyler Cowen on how to be a good agnostic November 10, 2021
Tyler Cowen on reasons to be dogmatic November 9, 2021
“We genuinely just want to do what’s best for the world” November 8, 2021
Make it easier November 7, 2021
Peter Thiel on faith, reason and hyper-Christianity November 6, 2021
Francis Fukuyama on boredom and sacrifice November 5, 2021
Wolf Tivy on transhumanism and Henry David Thoreau November 4, 2021
Ronald Dworkin on Posner’s doubts about the persuasiveness of moral arguments November 3, 2021
Richard Posner on moral entrepreneurs November 3, 2021
Elisabeth Costello - The Philosophers and The Animals November 2, 2021
John Dewey on moral principles November 1, 2021
Careless strawman due to inferential distance October 31, 2021
John Vervaeke on rationality, relevance realisation and insight October 30, 2021
Richard Rorty reviews Truth and Truthfulness by Bernard Williams October 29, 2021
Nietzsche on the prospect of secular ethics (as quoted on the dedication of Reasons & Persons) October 28, 2021
Nietzsche on love of truth, life, and perhaps even cultivating the species October 27, 2021
Tyler Cowen on Builders vs Nervous Nellies October 26, 2021
Ash Milton on meritocratic elite selection October 25, 2021
Tetlock vs King & Kay on probabilistic reasoning October 24, 2021
Keynes on Economics and the Limits of Decision Theory October 23, 2021
Trial and error is great until it kills you October 22, 2021
Very Big If True, therefore probably wrong and/or crazy (part 1) October 21, 2021
Robin Hanson on the future as reality October 20, 2021
Nietzsche’s mountain October 19, 2021
Nietzsche wasn’t climbing Parfit’s mountain October 19, 2021
Nick Bostrom on the influence of moral prophets October 19, 2021
Nick Bostrom on crucial considerations October 19, 2021
Bernard Williams musing on his career October 18, 2021
Holden Karnofsky on bounded commensurability as a way to get “ahead of the curve” on moral values October 17, 2021
Notes on public philosophy October 16, 2021
Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek on the attractions of monistic hedonism October 15, 2021
Nietzsche on objectivity October 15, 2021
Advocates who refuse the name October 15, 2021
Tyler Cowen: what kind of stories should we be suspicious of? October 14, 2021
Airbus: upgrading their software UI from “crappy” to “best practice” helped 4x the pace of A350 manufacturing October 16, 2024
Michael Nielsen and others on privacy October 6, 2024
Nick Cammarata on chasing your last few years of intelligence alpha September 20, 2024
OpenAI o1 solves a cipher September 12, 2024
“Learn to do everything lightly” August 8, 2024
”Common sense is often wielded like a gun” June 10, 2024
Notes on Rao on Ooze June 9, 2024
Safe, Unsafe and Universal Singletons June 9, 2024
Conservative progressivism May 10, 2024
“Today’s AI is the worst you’ll ever use.” January 12, 2024
On a similar path, but. January 11, 2024
Holden Karnofsky: the fast takeoff scenario is a key motivation for preemptive AI safety measures January 4, 2024
Are LLMs reasoning or reciting? January 2, 2024
Are LLMs reasoning or reciting? January 2, 2024
Explosive growth from AI automation: A review of the arguments January 1, 2024
Max Tegmark’s list of ASI futures December 28, 2023
Frank Ramsey on the view from somewhere December 28, 2023
A Christmas message from Walter Benjamin December 24, 2023
Tyler Cowen on Malthus December 23, 2023
Mill on Bentham and Coleridge December 19, 2023
Joseph Heath on Kantian evolutionary naturalism (rationality, pragmatism and deontic constraints) December 9, 2023
Sam Altman on The Merge November 30, 2023
Vitalik Buterin on superintelligence: merge or die November 30, 2023
Scott Alexander on conservatism self-preservation-against-optimality urge November 30, 2023
Scott Alexander on liberalism and universal culture November 29, 2023
Michael Nielsen is having second thoughts November 27, 2023
Tyler Cowen on Malthus on vice November 23, 2023
Mapping the debate about desirable futures November 21, 2023
Flo Crivello on entrepreneurship in the present moment November 13, 2023
Richard Ngo on posthuman freedom November 9, 2023
Sam Altman’s closing remarks at OpenAI DevDay November 7, 2023
AI safety and the Last Man November 6, 2023
“The Manifesto of Futurism“ by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti November 6, 2023
The case for the Scaling Hypothesis, in two sentences October 31, 2023
Fin Moorhouse & Max Tegmark on the braids of life October 31, 2023
How to parent your digital children October 24, 2023
Alien invaders vs children vs servants vs tools October 24, 2023
Policy for the day after October 23, 2023
Joscha Bach: meaning is instrumental to life October 23, 2023
Paul Christiano on making AI go well October 22, 2023
Sarah Waker & Lee Cronin on Assembly Theory (and a definition of life) October 13, 2023
The Sun is massive October 8, 2023
Robert Skidelsky on aristocratic self-confidence October 7, 2023
G.A. Cohen on the conservative bias to retain what is of valuable, even in the face of replacing it by something of greater value September 28, 2023
Hilary Greaves on definitions of existential risk September 28, 2023
September assorted links September 26, 2023
Matt Ridley on innovation vs invention September 26, 2023
Richard Danzig on technology roulette and the U.S. military September 25, 2023
Jerry Z Muller on left and right-wing totalitarianism in the early 20th century September 25, 2023
Alien invaders, or children? September 24, 2023
Reading suggestions September 24, 2023
Robin Hanson on the future as reality (read by my digital avatar) September 21, 2023
ChatGPT is a junior engineer today; a senior designer and engineer next year September 21, 2023
Peter Singer on the non-natural origin of the axiom of impartial benevolence September 20, 2023
AI will improve a lot, very soon September 20, 2023
Peter Thiel on the Hegelian tension of AI September 19, 2023
Peter Thiel on the Darwinian view of alignment September 19, 2023
Asmir Gračanin et al. on the function of tears September 19, 2023
Joe Carlsmith on the utilitarian dream September 19, 2023
Joe Carlsmith against “non-naturalistic realism or bust” September 19, 2023
Katherine Dee on despair September 17, 2023
200 IQ and made of meat September 17, 2023
What is AI alignment? September 14, 2023
Tyler Cowen’s core view on AI September 13, 2023
Digital Minds or Butlerian Accord? (Part 1) September 10, 2023
Who will rule the Earth in 2100? September 10, 2023
When you’re writing to learn, very short posts are fine September 9, 2023
@mfweof and @RokoMijic on naturalistic metaethics September 2, 2023
Eliezer Yudkowsky (1999) on a world with nanotechnology August 28, 2023
Kendall Roy on Logan Roy July 11, 2023
Tom Holland on Paul’s Letter to the Galatians March 23, 2023
Carl Schmitt on liberalism February 14, 2023
Otto Petras on the conditions for religious awe February 12, 2023
Chris Cullen: what do you want to naturalise? February 4, 2023
Richard Meadows & Nassim Taleb on FU money January 18, 2023
The last homily of Pope Pius XII January 16, 2023
Marc Andreessen on the heros we’re allowed to have January 15, 2023
Email to Tyler on Bernard Williams & effective altruism January 13, 2023
Jonathan Bi on how to live with a Girardian worldview January 2, 2023
Nick Bostrom on differential technological development November 19, 2022
Nick Bostrom on “turnkey totalitarianism” November 19, 2022
Naturalism, pragmatism, impartiality June 23, 2022
Digital minds: descendents or rivals? June 23, 2022
Iain McGilchrist on the left and right hemispheres June 16, 2022
Pragmatism, evolution & moral philosophy April 22, 2022
Tyler Cowen on axiology: I see the good as more holistic than additive-aggregative April 18, 2022
Reading Robin Hanson April 1, 2022
Robin Hanson on his methods March 22, 2022
Dominic Cummings: given they don’t take nuclear weapons seriously, never assume they’re taking X seriously March 19, 2022
Joe Carlsmith on expected utility maximisation March 19, 2022
Francis Bacon on pragmatism March 15, 2022
Adam Waytz on The Illusion of Explanatory Depth March 3, 2022
Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler on libertarian paternalism February 24, 2022
Holden Karnofsky on utility legions February 22, 2022
Tyler Cowen on historicism and taking sides February 21, 2022
Fallow period February 17, 2022
Eliezer Yudkowsky on naturalism February 16, 2022
Tyler Cowen on who should get more status February 15, 2022
Nick Bostrom on singletons February 14, 2022
Anders Sandberg on transhumanism February 11, 2022
Robin Hanson on world government and collective suicide February 10, 2022
Joe Carlsmith on non-naturalist realism vs anti-realism February 9, 2022
Bernard Williams on Sidgwick and the ambitions of ethics February 8, 2022
John Maynard Keynes on Sidgwick February 7, 2022
End of season 2 January 1, 2022
Tim Urban on cosmology January 1, 2022
Robin Hanson on value drift December 31, 2021
John Richardson on Nietzsche’s metaethics December 30, 2021
Elijah Millgram’s pragmatic critique of internalism December 29, 2021
John Richardson on Nietzsche’s naturalism December 28, 2021
Thoughts on Robin Hanson and David Deutsch on predicting the future December 27, 2021
‘St Paul and All That’, Frank O’Hara December 26, 2021
Report on human augmentation from the UK Ministry of Defence (May 2021) December 25, 2021
Eliezer Yudkowsky: Darwin discovered God December 25, 2021
Robin Hanson: This is the Dream Time December 24, 2021
Comments on “This is the Dream Time” December 24, 2021
Tyler Cowen on moral principles and the margins at which we should give them up December 23, 2021
State credences as fractions to avoid suggesting false precision December 23, 2021
Ross Douthat speculates on religious responses to transformative technology December 22, 2021
Tyler Cowen on Straussian truths and rational choice ethics December 21, 2021
Tyler Cowen on our local cone of value, and the name of his book December 20, 2021
'Other Writers', Leonard Cohen December 19, 2021
Plato was good at wrestling December 18, 2021
Ruth Chang on parity, agency and rational identity December 17, 2021
Holden Karnofsky on visualising utopia December 16, 2021
Richard Rorty on Proust and Hegel December 15, 2021
Richard Rorty on his path from Plato to Hegel to Dewey December 15, 2021
Bernard Williams reviews Nagel on reason December 14, 2021
Thomas Nagel on reason December 14, 2021
Joe Carlsmith on secular love and loyalty December 13, 2021
Maxwell Tabarrok on growth as condition for cooperation December 12, 2021
Robin Hanson: one of our main choices is between competition and governance December 11, 2021
Brian Leiter on naturalism and normativity December 10, 2021
Agnes Callard on philosophy December 9, 2021
Chrisopher Janaway on Nietzsche’s Genealogy December 8, 2021
Nietzsche on metaphysics as symptom December 7, 2021
The realism we’re looking for December 6, 2021
Simon Blackburn on people who think that anti-realism entails nihilism December 5, 2021
Joshua Greeen on utiltiarianism as “deep pragmatism” December 4, 2021
Joe Carlsmith on the importance of how you weigh it December 3, 2021
Elijah Millgram on metaphysics as intellectual ergonomics December 2, 2021
Maximising whims December 1, 2021
What is philosophy? Some answers. November 30, 2021
La Notte November 29, 2021
Parfit’s optimism November 29, 2021
Georges Bataille on Nietzsche November 28, 2021
Cheryl Misak on Ramsey’s pragmatism November 27, 2021
David Pearce on natural conception November 26, 2021
When we read someone else thinks for us November 25, 2021
The atrocious fact of wild animal suffering November 24, 2021
Blogging every day is hard November 23, 2021
C. Thi Nguyen on clarity November 19, 2021
End of season 1 November 18, 2021
Cass Sunstein on Sludge Audits November 18, 2021
Nietzsche on love of fate November 17, 2021
William James on religion, healthy-mindedness, melancholy metaphysicians November 16, 2021
William James on morality and religion November 15, 2021
William James on religion November 14, 2021
Nietzsche on pluralism November 13, 2021
William James on dogmatism and its origins; fruitful pathologies November 12, 2021
Peter Thiel on envy November 11, 2021
Tyler Cowen on how to be a good agnostic November 10, 2021
Tyler Cowen on reasons to be dogmatic November 9, 2021
“We genuinely just want to do what’s best for the world” November 8, 2021
Make it easier November 7, 2021
Peter Thiel on faith, reason and hyper-Christianity November 6, 2021
Francis Fukuyama on boredom and sacrifice November 5, 2021
Wolf Tivy on transhumanism and Henry David Thoreau November 4, 2021
Ronald Dworkin on Posner’s doubts about the persuasiveness of moral arguments November 3, 2021
Richard Posner on moral entrepreneurs November 3, 2021
Elisabeth Costello - The Philosophers and The Animals November 2, 2021
John Dewey on moral principles November 1, 2021
Careless strawman due to inferential distance October 31, 2021
John Vervaeke on rationality, relevance realisation and insight October 30, 2021
Richard Rorty reviews Truth and Truthfulness by Bernard Williams October 29, 2021
Nietzsche on the prospect of secular ethics (as quoted on the dedication of Reasons & Persons) October 28, 2021
Nietzsche on love of truth, life, and perhaps even cultivating the species October 27, 2021
Tyler Cowen on Builders vs Nervous Nellies October 26, 2021
Ash Milton on meritocratic elite selection October 25, 2021
Tetlock vs King & Kay on probabilistic reasoning October 24, 2021
Keynes on Economics and the Limits of Decision Theory October 23, 2021
Trial and error is great until it kills you October 22, 2021
Very Big If True, therefore probably wrong and/or crazy (part 1) October 21, 2021
Robin Hanson on the future as reality October 20, 2021
Nietzsche’s mountain October 19, 2021
Nietzsche wasn’t climbing Parfit’s mountain October 19, 2021
Nick Bostrom on the influence of moral prophets October 19, 2021
Nick Bostrom on crucial considerations October 19, 2021
Bernard Williams musing on his career October 18, 2021
Holden Karnofsky on bounded commensurability as a way to get “ahead of the curve” on moral values October 17, 2021
Notes on public philosophy October 16, 2021
Katarzyna de Lazari-Radek on the attractions of monistic hedonism October 15, 2021
Nietzsche on objectivity October 15, 2021
Advocates who refuse the name October 15, 2021
Tyler Cowen: what kind of stories should we be suspicious of? October 14, 2021