Category: August 2020

Yay, coffee reduces cancer risk!

https://www.mdlinx.com/article/how-does-coffee-fight-cancer/lfc-3548

Now I just need to google “cancer and chocolate” until I can find an article that says chocolate reduces cancer also! (It sounds like it probably does slightly, but you’re better off eating your vegetables).

The tendency of humans to seek information that confirms their existing perspectives or desires is one of many interesting psychology quirks explored in a book I’m reading called, “The AI Does Not Hate You.”

The whole quote is, “The AI does not hate you, nor does it love you, but you are made of atoms which it can use for something else.”

The book is about whether there is an actual risk (no matter how slight) that an artificial intelligence system could wipe out human existence. Except there’s not very much in the book about AI systems at all. Mostly it draws heavily from philosophy (esp. rationalists), as well as psychology, sociology, probability, religion, etc. There’s a lot of decision theory. There’s discussion of autism, altruism, and even cults. The book is all over the place, but overall, it’s quite interesting.

I like the author’s approach, because he’s not clearly convinced one way or another and therefore it doesn’t feel like he’s forcefully attempting to convince the reader of anything (I dislike preachy books). He basically just says, “Here’s what some people say, and here’s why, and here’s the science behind it; here’s what other people say, and why, and the science behind that…so, what do you think?”

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