Folks, we’re back with a weekly round up. With the vacation and then the holiday, it’s been a minute since I’ve done one of these so here it goes!
Books.
We are coming to the end of the my false Jewish messiahs reading cluster which started with Scholem’s Sabbatai Sevi (review forthcoming I swear!) and is now finishing with the absolutely stunning Books of Jacob and the interesting, though minor, companion book The Heresy’s of Jacob Frank. I will finish both of these this weekend even if it means I don’t sleep. I’m also working my way through the Making of the Atomic Bomb, with the goal of finishing that and American Prometheus before Nolan’s Oppenheimer drops at the end of the month. Then we turn to a very ambitious Rome reading cluster I’m developing. More on that soon.
Articles.
Whew, ok, here we go.
I’ve gone from being broadly sympathetic to the AI alignment doomers to more and more suspicious. Cowen has of course been very good on this and has been discussing it in many podcast appearances and posts. I think his concerns are laid out best in this post. Here’s a snip:
At the risk of being repetitive, I would like to shift into some real straight talk. Many of you focused on AGI existential risk do not much like or agree with my criticisms of that position, or perhaps you do not understand my stance, as I have seen stated a few times on Twitter. But I am telling you — I take you far more seriously than does most of the mainstream. I keep on saying — publish, publish, peer review, peer review — a high mark of respect. Can I say that again? “Publish, publish, not on blogs, not long stacked arguments or six hour podcasts or tweet storms, no, rather peer review, peer review, peer review, and yes with models too.”
Self recommending.
Where is all the AI doomer stuff coming from? WaPo explains how a lot of it is funded by OpenPhil, an organization I deeply admire, though I wonder if they’re at risk of getting high on their own supply here. One thing I have admired about OpenPhil’s co-ED Karnofsky is his commitment to world view diversification. Might be good to take a hard look at their priors on alignment and see if it is truly worth this investment.
On a completely separate theme, this profile of the now 81 year old science fiction giant Samuel Delany is just wonderful. Truly heartwarming. For many years when people ask me what my favorite book is I say Dhalgren. I’m not even sure it’s true that it’s my favorite, but it’s definitely to book that made me feel the most like I was on drugs. Might do a whole post on Delany and his genius. But Dhalgren is a must read for anyone who cares about modern literature.
It’s an interesting exercise to keep up with translations of the Iliad. The greatest of epic poetry grows with you as you age, and it’s worth going back to time and again. The great and powerful Emily Wilson is coming out with a new translation which I will read and in advance of that has taken a tour of the other major translation. I don’t read Greek, but prefer the Fagles. Your milage may vary.
In my neck of the woods, (i.e. largely secular liberal Brooklyn) religion is an underrated social good, Rabbi Wolpe gives some flavor here as to why.
Finally, I really want to go to the world’s largest gas station but no one wants to come with me. Do you?
Podcasts, etc.
Dwarkesh came out with the second half of his six hour podcast with AI alignment research Scott Shulman. Despite getting checked essentially by name in Cowen’s take down of AI doomers, I found this conversation interesting if not always convincing. AI doom does appear to be arguments stacked vertically where every step seems reasonable, but you get to an unreasonable conclusion. Still always fun to listen to two smart people riff.
At this point I should probably just say I never miss an episode of Conversations with Tyler. Almost always worth the time. The recent one with Reid Hoffman focused on AI is top notch and good place to start. His interview with Peter Singer is also excellent.
Finally, I rarely make it through an episode of the Ezra Klein show anymore but his interview with on her UFO stores was excellent. Thoughtful and probing. I doubt her reporting, but I do wonder if we’re alone in the universe.