rationalnewsletter

Issue #228

Research at Meta Reality Labs reconstructs a user's pose from only the sensors of the Quest headset using Reinforcement Learning. // twitter.com

# Instrumental

Stop Discouraging Microwave Formula Preparation // jkaufman, 2 min

How to plan for a radically uncertain future? // Kerry, 1 min

Supposing Europe is headed for a serious energy crisis this winter, what can/should one do as an individual to prepare? // Erich_Grunewald, 1 min

On the nature of help - a framework for helping // nikolay-blagoev, 15 min

# Ai

(My understanding of) What Everyone in Technical Alignment is Doing and Why // thomas-larsen, 45 min

Simulators // janus, 52 min

An Update on Academia vs. Industry (one year into my faculty job) // capybaralet, 5 min

AI coordination needs clear wins // evhub, 1 min

Survey of NLP Researchers: NLP is contributing to AGI progress; major catastrophe plausible // sbowman, 1 min

# Meta-ethics

The Expanding Moral Cinematic Universe // Raemon, 17 min

Please Do Fight the Hypothetical // conor-sullivan, 4 min

Artificial Moral Advisors: A New Perspective from Moral Psychology // David_Gross, 1 min

# Longevity

Have you considered getting rid of death? // Eh_Yo_Lexa, 1 min

# Anthropic

An Introduction to Current Theories of Consciousness // hohenheim, 57 min Favorite

[Linkpost] Can lab-grown brains become conscious? // Jack Ryan, 1 min

# Decision theory

Any Utilitarianism Makes Sense As Policy // George3d6, 8 min

Billionaires, Surplus, And Replaceability // Scott Alexander, 6 min

# Math and cs

Behaviour Manifolds and the Hessian of the Total Loss - Notes and Criticism // Spencer Becker-Kahn, 8 min

# Books

Book review: Put Your Ass Where Your Heart Wants to Be // mohammad-ruhul-kader, 12 min

Book Review Contest 2022 Winners // Scott Alexander, 7 min

# Community

AI Safety and Neighboring Communities: A Quick-Start Guide, as of Summer 2022 // sbowman, 6 min

Appendix: How to run a successful Hamming circle // CFAR 2017, 8 min

Safety Committee Resources // jkaufman, 1 min

# Culture war

Grand Theft Education // Zvi, 24 min

# Misc

I Tripped and Became GPT! (And How This Updated My Timelines) // Frankophone, 5 min

Why was progress so slow in the past? // jasoncrawford, 7 min

Sequencing Intro // jkaufman, 6 min

Enantiodromia // ChristianKl, 4 min

More Clothes Over Time? // jkaufman, 1 min

# Podcasts

An Audio Introduction to Nick Bostrom // PeterH, 1 min

AXRP Episode 18 - Concept Extrapolation with Stuart Armstrong // DanielFilan, 48 min

# Rational fiction

ProjectLawful.com gives you policy experience // TrevorWiesinger, 4 min

The Prophet And Caesar's Wife // Scott Alexander, 10 min

# Videos of the week

Ray Kurzweil: Singularity, Superintelligence, and Immortality | Lex Fridman Podcast #321 // Lex Fridman, 96 min