I kind of disagree with this attitude, too conformist and over assuming. I've seen too many flaked out freakazoids have tiny grains of absolute brilliance sprinkled throughout their time wasting mass of obtruse utterings.
Yeah you can't waste too much time and have to gain something with the interactions and shouldn't distract others. But a lot of mainstream research and ideas are just plain wrong or are wasting atoms.. especially in a real world software ecosystem compared to academic derivations. The two diverge in many ways. Also irrationality and genius are many times the same thing or overlap significantly ;]. John From: Brad Paulsen [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, April 14, 2008 5:17 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [agi] Posting Strategies - A Gentle Reminder Dear Fellow AGI List Members: Just thought I'd remind the good members of this list about some strategies for dealing with certain types of postings. Unfortunately, the field of AI/AGI is one of those areas where anybody with a pulse and a brain thinks they can design a "program that thinks." Must be easy, right? I mean, I can do it so how hard can it be to put "me" in a "can?" Well, that's what some very smart people in the 1940's, '50's and into the 1960's thought. They were wrong. Most of them now admit it. So, on AI-related lists, we have to be very careful about the kinds of "conversations" on which we spend our valuable time. Here are some guidelines. I realize most people here know this stuff already. This is just a gentle reminder. If a posting makes grandiose claims, is dismissive of mainstream research, techniques, and institutions or the author claims to have "special knowledge" that has apparently been missed (or dismissed) by all of the brilliant scientific/technical minds who go to their jobs at major corporations and universities every day (and are paid for doing so), and also by every Nobel Laureate for the last 20 years, this posting should be ignored. DO NOT RESPOND to these types of postings: positively or negatively. The poster is, obviously, either irrational or one of the greatest minds of our time. In the former case, you know they're full of it, I know they're full of it, but they will NEVER admit that. You will never win an argument with an irrational individual. In the latter case, stop and ask yourself: Why is somebody that fantastically smart posting to this mailing list? He or she is, obviously, smarter than everyone here. Why does he/she need us to validate his or her accomplishments/knowledge by posting on this list? He or she should have better things to do and, besides, we probably wouldn't be able to understand ("appreciate") his/her genius anyhow. The only way to deal with postings like this is to IGNORE THEM. Don't rise to the bait. Like a bad cold, they will be irritating for a while, but they will, eventually, go away. Cheers, Brad _____ agi | <http://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now> Archives <http://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/> | <http://www.listbox.com/member/?&;> Modify Your Subscription <http://www.listbox.com> ------------------------------------------- agi Archives: http://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now RSS Feed: http://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/ Modify Your Subscription: http://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=8660244&id_secret=101455710-f059c4 Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
