http://ryan.sh/2010-08-04T20:56:02-04:002010-08-04T20:56:02-04:002010-08-04T20:56:02-04:00Ryan Witttag:ryan.sh,2010-08-04:2010/08/04/spock-rationality-and-reasons-for-truth/

<blockquote> <p>Spock’s emotional state is always set to “calm”, even when wildly inappropriate. He often gives many significant digits for probabilities that are grossly uncalibrated. (E.g: “Captain, if you steer the Enterprise directly into that black hole, our probability of surviving is only 2.234%” Yet nine times out of ten the Enterprise is not destroyed. What kind of tragic fool gives four significant digits for a figure that is off by two orders of magnitude?) Yet this popular image is how many people conceive of the duty to be “rational” - small wonder that they do not embrace it&nbsp;wholeheartedly.</p> </blockquote> <p>Just a sample of the amazing facility for instance possessed by Eliezer Yudkowski, a self-taught <span class="caps">AI</span> researcher and guy behind <a href="http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5782108/1/Harry_Potter_and_the_Methods_of_Rationality">Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality</a>.</p> <p>I&#8217;ve been slowly working my way through his writing over the past few months and can&#8217;t recommend him&nbsp;enough.</p>