the two math stories, "luminous" and "dark integers", are among the best things egan has ever written. the other three are kinda meh.the two math stories, "luminous" and "dark integers", are among the best things egan has ever written. the other three are kinda meh....more
well, that was like nothing else i've ever read. utterly fascinating. falls apart a bit at the end.
one thing: when they're looking at the giant rock, well, that was like nothing else i've ever read. utterly fascinating. falls apart a bit at the end.
one thing: when they're looking at the giant rock, they see the phrase "We thought ourselves a powerful culture." this is one of the recommended long term nuclear semiotics:
* This place is a message... and part of a system of messages... pay attention to it! * Sending this message was important to us. We considered ourselves to be a powerful culture. * This place is not a place of honor... no highly esteemed deed is commemorated here... nothing valued is here. * What is here was dangerous and repulsive to us. This message is a warning about danger. * The danger is in a particular location... it increases towards a center... the center of danger is here... of a particular size and shape, and below us. * The danger is still present, in your time, as it was in ours. * The danger is to the body, and it can kill. * The form of the danger is an emanation of energy. * The danger is unleashed only if you substantially disturb this place physically. This place is best shunned and left uninhabited.
that doesn't really explain anything, but is good to know (i've got the "this place is not a place of honor..." on a nice sampler in my condo)
review minimized to avoid spoilers of this extraordinary novella....more
we're calling position papers books now? interesting. i think it might be impossible to read this as anything other than hysterical, but i'm no expertwe're calling position papers books now? interesting. i think it might be impossible to read this as anything other than hysterical, but i'm no expert on either the philosophy nor science of AGI. suffice to say i have my doubts regarding superintelligence, but i have no doubts regarding AGI itself, nor that it will be realized soon. a lot of Aschenbrenner's arguments rely on an assumption of superintelligence, especially his most dire assertions. with that said, the answers regarding superintelligence are not at all decided, and if i'm wrong, what he says is probably valid (though i think the resulting changes would go far beyond anything he even hints at, and explode the view through which he analyzes the near future--in the presence of superintelligence, i don't see any need for humanity and certainly not 18th century-style nationstates).
most of his suggestions seem ridiculous. this isn't nuclear weaponry, where you need a uranium/plutonium base requiring a huge industrial effort [0] to get anywhere. *that's* what keeps the Red Hat Ladies from becoming nuclear powers, not secrecy. the idea that innovations in AI, spread across hundreds if not thousands of labs and literally tens of thousands of people, are going to be kept bottled up by any scheme is asinine, and frankly makes me question the author's sensibilities.
everyone ought read this extraordinary document IMHO, but don't necessarily buy its assertions nor conclusions. be aware that it's fairly repetitive, and reads like four presentations stapled together.
my tipoff came from scott aaronson's blog, though this has been all over the CS world for a week or so.
the first third of this book is one of the most mindmelting exercises in linguistic insanity i've ever come across. i realized after reading that therthe first third of this book is one of the most mindmelting exercises in linguistic insanity i've ever come across. i realized after reading that there is a glossary in the back, but as translator Max Lawton says in his afterword, it doesn't look terribly useful. i couldn't put this part down. there are several set pieces, pastiches/parodies of great russian authors, and they're both hilarious and technically perfect.
the second phase drastically changes the focus, and calms the wordhorde to a degree. the change is quite sudden, and the characters/themes introduced to this point are completely cast aside. this middle section explores a bizarre culture/religion, and is pretty fascinating.
the third and longest section is basically naked lunch featuring stalin, kruschev, a gelatinous Cartmanesque egg-shitting poetess by the name of AAA (pretty clearly a reference to Anna Akhmatova), beria, stalin's wife and daughter, and finally hitler and bormann. this gets kinda tiresome by its end, much like the Anubis section of gravity's rainbow. by now the writing has completely cooled down. by this time the kind of hallucinogenic fever dream perfected in Naked Lunch is, relative to the first hundred pages, completely sane.
vladimir sorokin is like no other russian author i know, and we are in debt to mr. lawton--an interesting guy in his own right--for his fantastic translation (and general popularizing of sorokin). turbonormies need not apply, but those with a tooth for the transgressive and bizarre will enjoy Blue Lard....more
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