Top all-time · #302
Eliezer Yudkowsky
Personal blog · yudkowsky.net · on HN as Eliezerphilosophyai
Eliezer Yudkowsky writes Eliezer S. Yudkowsky, a personal blog at yudkowsky.net about philosophy and ai. Since 2007, 165 different Hacker News readers have linked it 240 times, most often “Bayes' Theorem explained by Yudkowsky”. The last post was in 2020, but the archive is still widely read.
Sometimes recommended · 9 of 40 sampled comments recommend it?
Why HN links it
HN readers link Yudkowsky's site mostly for his intuitive explanation of Bayes' theorem. Other pages cited are the AI-box experiment, 'The Simple Truth' and HPMOR.
- Recommended for · 9 comments
- Commenters call the Bayes explanation excellent and refer people to it; HPMOR and 'The Simple Truth' are also praised.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 40 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Most-linked posts?
- Bayes' Theorem explained by Yudkowsky31 people · 33 mentions · first linked 2008-11-25
- The AI-Box Experiment14 people · 16 mentions · first linked 2009-01-11
- The Simple Truth (2008)13 people · 14 mentions · first linked 2008-12-02
- An Intuitive Explanation of Bayes' Theorem (2008)11 people · 11 mentions · first linked 2015-01-28
- The AI-Box Experiment10 people · 12 mentions · first linked 2021-01-11
- /singularity/schools9 people · 11 mentions · first linked 2009-03-22
- Twelve virtues of rationality8 people · 9 mentions · first linked 2008-11-15
- Technical Explanation (of Bayes' theorem)6 people · 9 mentions · first linked 2009-09-10
- Yehuda Yudkowsky, 1985-20046 people · 8 mentions · first linked 2008-11-26
- /rational/bayes/5 people · 6 mentions · first linked 2012-07-14
What Hacker News says?
My apologies. Comment was low effort and not clear enough on the point it was making. To substantiate that comment: http://yudkowsky.net/rational/the-simple-truth/ What powers should define truth? Sensory / populist / ability to take life.
Comment linking /rational/the-simple-truth/
on “Ask a Female Engineer: Thoughts on the Google Memo”Submitted An Intuitive Explanation of Bayes' Theorem as a story · 100 points
HN discussionThe threat of a superintelligent AI taking over the world is certainly real -- assuming you have a superintelligent AI. If you accept that it is possible to build a such an AI, then you should, at the very least, educate yourself on the existential risks it would pose to humanity. I recommend "Superintelligence: Paths, Danger, Strategies," by Nick Bostrom (it's almost certainly where Musk got his ideas; he's quoted…
Comment linking /singularity/aibox
on “Web Design: The First 100 Years (2014)”Submitted The AI-Box Experiment as a story · 66 points
HN discussion> the people in charge will not give control Eliezer Yudkowsky would likely disagree with you: http://www.yudkowsky.net/singularity/aibox EDIT: Also - http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1450:_AI-Box_Exper...
Comment linking /singularity/aibox
on “The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Recurrent Neural Networks”Submitted The AI-Box Experiment as a story · 62 points
HN discussion"We shall have to work faster." http://yudkowsky.net/other/yehuda Even if it was suicide, this too we will overcome.
Comment linking /other/yehuda
on “Diaspora Co-Founder Ilya Zhitomirskiy Passes Away At 21”Submitted Bayes' Theorem explained by Yudkowsky as a story · 57 points
HN discussionThe sort of mentality championed here is important to keep in mind, but it can also be dangerous if implemented the wrong way. I keep this in mind, too: "The ninth virtue is perfectionism. The more errors you correct in yourself, the more you notice. As your mind becomes more silent, you hear more noise. When you notice an error in yourself, this signals your readiness to seek advancement to the next level. If you t…
Comment linking /rational/virtues
on “You are not running out of time”Submitted Technical Explanation (of Bayes' theorem) as a story · 56 points
HN discussionWe shall have to work faster. http://yudkowsky.net/other/yehuda
Comment linking /other/yehuda
on “In Memoriam: Christopher Hitchens, 1949–2011”Submitted The Simple Truth (2008) as a story · 48 points
HN discussionIt's part of being a biological organism thus far . There's nothing to say we can't do better. To the rest -- in particular, the notion that wanting people not to die is "infantile" -- I reply with a link: http://www.yudkowsky.net/singularity/simplified/
Comment linking /singularity/simplified/
on “Google announces Calico, a new company that will focus on health and well-being”Submitted Awesome explanation of Bayesian probability as a story · 40 points
HN discussion"Magic is fueled by belief and willpower" "Magic that works whether or not you believe in it" What is belief and what is reality. An existential notion of truth that I subscribe to. http://yudkowsky.net/rational/the-simple-truth/
Comment linking /rational/the-simple-truth/
on “Outraged about the Google diversity memo?”Submitted Yehuda Yudkowsky, 1985-2004 as a story · 38 points
HN discussionAnother Bayes theorem. This is IMO the most important idea so I am including this alternate text as well. http://yudkowsky.net/rational/bayes/
Comment linking /rational/bayes/
on “Outraged about the Google diversity memo?”Submitted A Technical Explanation of Technical Explanation (2005) as a story · 30 points
HN discussionR in a Nutshell, combined with this tutorial: http://yudkowsky.net/rational/bayes
Comment linking /rational/bayes
on “What one book could give me a new, useful superpower?”Submitted Twelve virtues of rationality as a story · 28 points
HN discussionThe way humanity uses that word can sometimes be complicated, but don't fall into the trap of thinking that truth is: http://yudkowsky.net/rational/the-simple-truth/
Comment linking /rational/the-simple-truth/
on “Fear is America’s top-selling consumer product”Submitted AI Box experiment. Would you let it out? as a story · 19 points
HN discussionOr, a more productive thought: "We shall have to work faster." (From http://www.yudkowsky.net/other/yehuda )
Comment linking /other/yehuda
on “I wrote a small piece on planned death”Submitted Twelve Virtues of Rationality as a story · 16 points
HN discussionThis is incredible. I still remember the first time I read through Eliezer Yudkowsky's Intuitive Explanation of Bayes Theorem [1], and how it was one of those moments where the lense with which I saw the world changed forever. I still refer people to that page whenever I have a tough time explaining it myself, as well as a handful of other pages (now including this one). I know Show HN is typically used for getting…
Comment linking /rational/bayes
on “Show HN: Explained Visually”Submitted Three Majority Singularity Schools of Thought as a story · 12 points
HN discussionOr as Eliezer nicely phrased it once in a paper[0], > "The AI does not hate you, nor does it love you, but you are made out of atoms which it can use for something else." [0] - http://yudkowsky.net/singularity/ai-risk
Comment linking /singularity/ai-risk
on “Google to Buy Artificial Intelligence Startup DeepMind for $400M”Submitted An Intuitive Explanation of Bayes' Theorem (2008) as a story · 11 points
HN discussionI think almost everyone struggles with this type of depression at some point in life. I'm not sure how much being gifted has to do with it. Strangely, one of the things that has helped develop my framework for life is a fanfiction (Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality) [1], written by Eliezer Yudkowsky. I think it's been recommended several times before on Hacker News, but it really is a great fanfiction. The…
Comment linking /other/yehuda
on “Existential Depression in Gifted Children”Submitted The AI box experiment as a story · 11 points
HN discussion
