Comments by "zenith parsec" (@zenithparsec) on "Kyle Hill" channel.

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  16. I've been sick, so I only saw this video today. But unfortunately, Roko's Basilisk doesn't need to do anything resource intensive to cause infinite harm. If you haven't already, you might enjoy reading Greg Egan's "Permutation City";l it describes a way to get free* and infinite computation. Because the Basilisk doesn't need you to ever communicate with anyone to experience its punishment, it could use a similar method: run the first step of a deterministic algorithm, such that every step afterwards is determined completely by the initial conditions. In the same way that trigonometric functions are defined for all in domain inputs, a simulation of you could be defined and subjectively could experience an infinite number of steps. Alternatively, imagine being frozen while experiencing whatever they want for one instant. If you never experience another thing, is that subjectively like experiencing that one moment forever? Your defeat doesn't work if enough people believe it won't and succeed. As you said, we don't know anything about how a super-intelligent AI will behave, so using the Nash equilibrium argument is no help. But luckily for you, you are doing as much as you can to bring it about, so you'll probably be spared. ;] And um, you already gave me a reason not to worry about the potential of pandemics: the are a lot of other people worrying about it, so I can go back to working on my video game. It also has a basilisk, but while it's technological, it's closer to the mythical kind. (And who doesn't want to live forever? Thanks Roko's Basilisk! ) [* before you think this is crazy, it's not my idea. It would not only ne free but also possibly "natural" and automatic. If there exists a mapping of anything to the computation, it's already happening. And if it's possible to map your mind into a computer simulation, then there are infinitely many of you with subjective experiences in every possible universe. Considering you can only experience what doesn't kill you, this is also kind of like a many-worlds "Quantum Immortality", where you experience subjectively immortal,, but... well, if you read this book you'll probably get dozens of new content ideas. And he has some other good ones which you'd probably also enjoy. ]
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  18. Animals with wheels? "A structure capable of rolling continuously around an axle would be physically separated from the body and therefore impossible to build in a developing animal. (But lizards which drop their tails isn't impossible. Who says the wheel has to start off separated from the other part? Why not grow it connected, then have it fall off when it's reached the right size? Sort of like how babies grow?) Longer description of an imaginary animal: The main functions of the animal are in the wheel-like part. In the middle of the wheel, there is an axle-hole from which two horns grown outward, and upwards in a U shape. Once they reach the right length, upward, they start growing towards each other, pushing inward through the body,. The growth of the bones through the center of the body triggers development of lots of little feet around them, on the inside of the ring. Once the feet have developed enough, and the bones are sufficiently fused, the axle could 'fall off' the body, , but still be trapped in the ring . To avoid wear, the feet could exude some kind of fluid with bone-like inerals infused in it that could replace any worn surface... imagine it flowing out along he surface and smoothing off any dents or scratches it flowed over. (Like a plastic screen repair kits, but evolved.) By making the wheel itself the active part, and having an entrapped U shape axle, which drags along the ground (yeah, it will wear out eventually, but evolution just needs you to live long enough to reproduce) you can solve 'disconnected wheel' problem. Give me 20 minutes and I'll come up with a few plausible stages each of the parts could evolve through. I imagine it would need to give an enormous fitness advantage to the owner, considering how much inconvenience the U-axle would have while it was growing... perhaps the wheel body part also has other legs, and the axle mechanism is only used in special situations, like hunting, defense, or mating displays? (To others in the species, perhaps winning a race could be evidence that the holder has plenty of access to food and other necessary resources to live comfortably, and would so be an awesome mate?) So wheels aren't impossible but they are really unlikely. We just had an easier base creature with 4 limbs to start with instead of something weirder.
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