this post was submitted on 29 Mar 2025
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SneerClub

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Hurling ordure at the TREACLES, especially those closely related to LessWrong.

AI-Industrial-Complex grift is fine as long as it sufficiently relates to the AI doom from the TREACLES. (Though TechTakes may be more suitable.)

This is sneer club, not debate club. Unless it's amusing debate.

[Especially don't debate the race scientists, if any sneak in - we ban and delete them as unsuitable for the server.]

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I haven't watched it. I don't know how well she will cover the subject or how deep the rabbit hole she will venture.

All I know is she's delightful and I sure as hell won't read that bilge myself, so I'm looking forward to an entertaining summary.

Edit: I watched it. I had a good time.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 day ago

Honestly the most surprising part was when she went "of course we know fanfiction can be used for cult indoctrination, ever since that other cult did it"

I skipped that episode because it seemed boring, but now I might come back to it.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 days ago (1 children)

There's just something so ... basic about HPMOR. Oh, so you wrote a Harry Potter story? Targeted at emotionally vulnerable neurodivergent young people? That's playing fanfiction on easy mode. Meanwhile, people are out there inventing a whole sui generis fandom about humanity being force-femmed by communist space plants. I don't understand it, but (stirring brass band) by Gad, I respect it.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago (1 children)

First impression: queer (and therefore better) take on whatever Cybersmith was on about(??)

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago

Im contractually obligated to say 'ow god no, not the human pet guy'.

You would be amazed how often this comes up. Anyway, dont sign AI generated contracts.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 days ago

One erratum: the review that goes into how HPMOR's science is bad was by "su3su2u1", not Dan Luu (who just archived it from the original Tumblr).

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 days ago
[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 days ago (2 children)

I liked that part where Harry's happy memory for powering his Patronus was his absolute certainty that we will defeat death and "no one will ever have to say goodbye ever again" - that's cool shit.

Right up until the Patronus animal was a human and I cringed so hard I had to take a break from reading.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

goofy shrugging

be me, super genius autodidact

be deeply moved by the prospect of defeating death with technology, write some sick prose about it because am eloquent as fuck

proceed to punt this goal decades or centuries by helping to justify a tech bubble which consumes tons of R&D resources for no apparent benefit and will bind further resources in the future to adapt to an aggravated climate crisis, and also inspiring a slew of technofascists too dumb to tell the difference between tech that benefits mankind and tech that exploits and oppresses

mein face when

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 days ago (1 children)

>proceed to punt this goal decades or centuries by helping to justify a tech bubble which consumes tons of R&D resources for no apparent benefit and will bind further resources in the future to adapt to an aggravated climate crisis, and also inspiring a slew of technofascists too dumb to tell the difference between tech that benefits mankind and tech that exploits and oppresses

Not to mention, the aforementioned bubble's given us shit like some jackasses' ghoulish (and failed) attempt to "revive" George Carlin, attempts to automate end-of-life care, "AI seances" designed to scam the grieving, and God-knows-what-else.

So, the very concept of "defeating death with technology" has probably been thoroughly discredited as impossible, inherently ghoulish, or a combo of the two.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 21 hours ago

To be frank, all seances are designed to scam the grieving, AI or otherwise. If AI threatens the psychic industry I say let them fight.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 3 days ago (1 children)

If he wrote it now, the patronus animal would be an RTX 5090.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 days ago

so an alternative, somewhat weaker fireball spell

[–] [email protected] 9 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Sorry, when she started taking Yud's claims to be a "renowned AI researcher" at face value, I noped out.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 3 days ago (1 children)

It is technically correct to call Yud a "renowned AI researcher", but saying someone's renowned in a pseudoscience such as AI is hardly singing their praises.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 3 days ago (1 children)

He's a renowned AI researcher in the same way as Andrew Wakefield is a renowned doctor.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 3 days ago

Herostraticly renowned.