John Scalzi

Oh that was a brilliant video clip. I hadn't seen that before, thank you!!

> The important question in the OpenAI work that you haven't touched on is how to evaluate superintelligence. I guess I would frame the problem like this:

> Let's say there is a very esoteric but important branch of abstract mathematics that only a few people claim to understand. Is there a way for us to determine which mathematicians are actually intelligent, and which are bluffing? How?

This is a tricky one. To my dog, I am revered as a super-being of intelligence and capability. But if he watches me play grandmaster-level chess, or writing a paper on abstract mathematics -- it must look like insanity. In sci-fi, I rather like the image of super-intelligence from one of my favorite short-stories: "When the Yogurt Took Over" [1]

> No one argues with the yogurt. No one tweaks its formulas. The rest of the time it rests there in its factory, thinking about whatever intelligent fermented milk thinks about.

It just sits there in its vat -- and its actions seem largely incomprehensible to us -- as incomprehensible as me playing Magic: The Gathering is to my dog. It must look like lunacy. (given what I spend on the game, I'm not sure it's not)

So if we're going to evaluate superintelligence, then I feel that -- for starters -- it must be on somewhat of a clear playing-field. We can clearly evaluate super-ability in Chess, in Go, and in Starcraft 2 because there are clearly defined rules.

The only…

For anyone interested in writing “for real” (professionally or as a hobby) I highly recommend John Scalzi’s blog [1]. He’s cynical, he’s funny, and above all he’s practical.

Among his advice over the years a few things have really stuck with me:

1) Don’t get an MFA, it’s a waste of money. If you need a grammar class, take one. If you need more of a basis in x literary genre because that’s what you want to write in, take a class or just read a ton in that genre.

2) Set up the habit of writing. If you don’t write a lot of crap on a regular basis you’ll never write anything. You will throw away a TON of what you write, but it’s only by writing that 99% of crap that you’ll find the 1% that’s worth keeping.

3) Don’t quit your day job. You will never, ever, ever write for 8 hours a day straight. Rather than sitting around depressed all day because you haven’t written anything worth a damn, you may as well have a basic 8 to 5 office job that pays the bills, health insurance, etc. Not only does it remove money as a concern, but it gets your mind off of the fact that you haven’t written anything good and frees up your creative juices for that next scheduled writing period.

4) Don’t be pretentious and refuse to write anything that isn’t “pure” or “worthy”. All the advertisements you see and brochures you read are written by someone. Being persuasive with your writing can pay really well and give you the security to pound out that next great American novel.

1:…

I've read a lot of Azimov, including the Foundation series, and nearly all books by the Strugatsky brothers. And I too loved Harry Harrisons's Deathworld when I was a schoolboy :)
Reading Chekhov makes me genuinely sad, maybe I take the lives of his heroes too close to heart.

I am not sure about top 3, but if I had to reread something I've read before, I'd start with Dostoevsky's 'Idiot', continue with "За миллиард лет до конца света" by Strugatsky brothers, and maybe I'll reread the Permutation City by Greg Egan.

As for the Three Body Problem, I find it unique in that it realisticly represents the humanity's place in the galaxy (a fly on the wind shield). Lui Cixin's cosmic sociology [0] rings true to me too. The idea of laws of physics being the result of the activity of advanced civilizations, while not original (see Lem's “The New Cosmogony”), is fascinating nonetheless. The story of how 'right' moral choices in the context of that world lead to the end of humanity is another original bit.

[0] https://whatever.scalzi.com/2014/11/11/the-big-idea-liu-cixin/

I sincerely wish you the best, in both your personal life and your career, but "when you have a large skill set and are willing to do anything" you DO find work.

And when you are damn good at what you do and productive - more productive than the "average" mediocre default - you DO get rewarded.

That being said, however being in a weak position is a self reinforcing spiral where you get fewer and fewer opportunities and become less productive. And small hits take a tremendous toll - one who has not experienced what you have should at least read Scalzi's "On being poor" - http://whatever.scalzi.com/2005/09/03/being-poor/

Yet for some reason you found the strength to get back on your feet. Once again, I sincerely wish you the best, and hope you can give a hand to other people. We all need help at one time or the other, and it's better when you are on the giving end :-)

The poverty level in the us is $23 050 for a family of 4 (1). Not sure where you got your figure.

Roughly 10% of americans were food-insecure at some point in a year (2)

(1) http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/12poverty.shtml

(2) http://webarchives.cdlib.org/sw1s17tt5t/http://ers.usda.gov/Publications/FANRR35/

Yes, in India ~50% of the population doesn't have regular access to clean water or a sewage system. Yes, I'd rather be poor in the US than poor in India. But I maintain that the state of poverty in the US (and other western countries) is a far bigger failure than the state of poverty in any developing country.

Also, I can't help but link to this great post whenever talking about poverty:

http://whatever.scalzi.com/2005/09/03/being-poor/

the mac and cheese one makes me tear up every time I read it.

John Scalzi's response to this piece of self-serving agitprop is worth reading in full:

http://whatever.scalzi.com/2014/07/30/amazons-latest-volley/

(Shorter Scalzi: Amazon are presenting as "good for authors" policies which, in fact, are only indisputably "good for Amazon"; the only authors they might be good for are those who cleave unto Amazon like limpets and don't do business with the other 70% of the book distribution business, and even then, it's somewhat questionable: Amazon's T&C's for authors publishing directly are invidious and include binding arbitration clauses and boilerplate giving AMZN the right to vary their terms unilaterally -- meaning AMZN basically have those authors by the short and curlies, in a manner that no real publishing company even attempts in their author contracts.)