Eliezer Yudkowsky
About Eliezer Yudkowsky
Speaking videos
Books by Eliezer Yudkowsky
“How to Actually Change Your Mind (Rationality: From AI to Zombies)” (2018)
“I believe that it is right and proper for me, as a human being, to have an interest in the future, and what human civilization becomes in the future. One of those interests is the human pursuit of truth, which has strengthened slowly over the generations (for there was not always science). I wish to strengthen that pursuit further, in this generation. That is a wish of mine, for the Future. For we are all of us players upon that vast gameboard, whether we accept the responsibility or not.“And that makes your rationality my business.“Is this a dangerous idea? Yes, and not just pleasantly edgy “dangerous.” People have been burned to death because some priest decided that they didn’t think the way they should. Deciding to burn people to death because they ‘don’t think properly’—that’s a revolting kind of reasoning, isn’t it? You wouldn’t want people to think that way, why, it’s disgusting. People who think like that, well, we’ll have to do something about them...“I agree! Here’s my proposal: Let’s argue against bad ideas but not set their bearers on fire.”Human intelligence is a superweapon: an amazing capacity that has single-handedly put humans in a dominant position on Earth. When human intelligence defeats itself and goes off the rails, the fallout therefore tends to be a uniquely big deal. In How to Actually Change Your Mind, decision theorist Eliezer Yudkowsky asks how we can better identify and sort out our biases, integrate new evidence, and achieve lucidity in our daily lives. Because it really seems as though we should be able to do better——and a three-pound all-purpose superweapon is a terrible thing to waste.
“Map and Territory (Rationality: From AI to Zombies)” (2018)
If you live in an urban area, you probably don’t need to walk very far to find a martial arts dojo.Why aren’t there dojos that teach rationality?Very recently—in just the last few decades—the human species has acquired a great deal of new knowledge about human rationality. Experimental investigations of empirical human psychology; and theoretical probability theory to interpret what our experiments tell us; and evolutionary theory to explain the conclusions. These fields give us new focusing lenses through which to view the landscape of our own minds. We have a shared vocabulary in which to describe problems and solutions. Humanity may finally be ready to synthesize the martial art of mind: to refine, share, systematize, and pass on techniques of personal rationality.When human brains try to do things, they can run into some very strange problems. Self-deception, confirmation bias, magical thinking—it sometimes seems our ingenuity is boundless when it comes to shooting ourselves in the foot.In Map and Territory, decision theorist Eliezer Yudkowsky asks what a “martial art” of rationality would look like, beginning with the basic fighting stance—the orientation toward the world that lets us get the most bang for our cognitive buck, that best positions us to understand and react to brains’ strange acts of self-destruction.
“Inadequate Equilibria: Where and How Civilizations Get Stuck” (2017)
When should you think that you may be able to do something unusually well? Whether you're trying to outperform in science, or in business, or just in finding good deals shopping on eBay, it's important that you have a sober understanding of your relative competencies. The story only ends there, however, if you're fortunate enough to live in an adequate civilization. Eliezer Yudkowsky's Inadequate Equilibria is a sharp and lively guidebook for anyone questioning when and how they can know better, and do better, than the status quo. Freely mixing debates on the foundations of rational decision-making with tips for everyday life, Yudkowsky explores the central question of when we can (and can't) expect to spot systemic inefficiencies, and exploit them.
At a glanceEliezer Yudkowsky
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