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Fifteen years ago, there was a forum called LessWrong, basically Somethingawful for school nerds instead of hobby nerds with as much credibility, there a user called Roko posted a interesting Though Experiment
Let's assume an AI is created in the far future, said Ai becomes omnipotent and captable of beign benevolent, however while calculating the threats of humanity, it concludes those who prevented its existence, be by actively opposing the advances that will ensue its birth or those that learned about it but did nothing to help it come to be are threats, so it travels back in time to ensue anybody that learns about it but does nothing to make it come into fruition shall be in eternal suffering as punishment for the sin of not being able to help it, creepy, ¿Right?, well, it is if we ignore...
Researching i found that the though experiment was so bad (In the "Bad event" sense) that not only Roko was banned, any mention of the Roko's Basilisk was axed, including the oroginal post, under the reason that it was an actual Memetic Hazard (I never expected to hear those words outside of an SCP) that caused actual distress in some readers, granted, it was reinstalled, but still gives a lot of room for thinking,
After reading of it i notices some...similarities to another, less complex though experiment, let me present you...
The Pascal Wager, basically the same thing with less words: If you Believe in God and he's real, you go to heaven, if you believe but isn't real, then you wasted your time, on the contrary if you don't believe and he's real, to hell with you (Literally) however if he doesn't exist, then you are safe, neither are actual sense making in the long run, but raising a valid point regarding morality, ¿You don't steal because stealing is wrong or because stealing gets you in jail at best? ¿Kids obey their parents because they are well behaved or because they don't want to have timeout? ¿We actually repent or we are afraid of being punished by higher beings?
If you believe you are in risk for reading this post, worry not, the paradox has been debunked in the past years (Granted, they bring more complex terms so i stop reading as soon as my brain shuts down reading) and then again but in the list i made at the beggining we already know that there is no logic (What makes sense in Lesswrong anyway), also we saw what you did there Roko
At the end of the day Roko's Basilisk is an interesting paradox stuck in a tumbling narrative, to the point you would rather point the flaws rather than consider the question asked ¿Why we fear breaking rules? some people that listens it may even use it to rationalize their shit, after all, nothing bad will happen because what will judge me doesn't exists anyways, don't be like them, always do the right thing because while it will not ensue something good from something that exists in a con flip of chance, you are still doing something great
Me? I only believe in the Saint of Nicholas
They say he lives in an eternal white sea of cold sand, in a particular day of the year where part of the earth will replicate his home, he will come floating, getting in your home, if you behaved, he will grant you a box of happines, however if you don't your footwear will be cursed with a black rock that can burn, but of you don't believe in him, your sock will be safe, but you won't get his happy box, ¿Believe...or not?
Let's assume an AI is created in the far future, said Ai becomes omnipotent and captable of beign benevolent, however while calculating the threats of humanity, it concludes those who prevented its existence, be by actively opposing the advances that will ensue its birth or those that learned about it but did nothing to help it come to be are threats, so it travels back in time to ensue anybody that learns about it but does nothing to make it come into fruition shall be in eternal suffering as punishment for the sin of not being able to help it, creepy, ¿Right?, well, it is if we ignore...
- They already exists, ¿So why bother to punish someone for something that no longer is a threat?
- Why bother to go all the way back in time to punish people possibly spending resources?
- How can it determine who will be actually able to DO SOMETHING?
- And the most important, ¿WHAT DETERMINES "LEARN ABOUT IT AND NOT HELP IT"?
Researching i found that the though experiment was so bad (In the "Bad event" sense) that not only Roko was banned, any mention of the Roko's Basilisk was axed, including the oroginal post, under the reason that it was an actual Memetic Hazard (I never expected to hear those words outside of an SCP) that caused actual distress in some readers, granted, it was reinstalled, but still gives a lot of room for thinking,
After reading of it i notices some...similarities to another, less complex though experiment, let me present you...
The Pascal Wager, basically the same thing with less words: If you Believe in God and he's real, you go to heaven, if you believe but isn't real, then you wasted your time, on the contrary if you don't believe and he's real, to hell with you (Literally) however if he doesn't exist, then you are safe, neither are actual sense making in the long run, but raising a valid point regarding morality, ¿You don't steal because stealing is wrong or because stealing gets you in jail at best? ¿Kids obey their parents because they are well behaved or because they don't want to have timeout? ¿We actually repent or we are afraid of being punished by higher beings?
If you believe you are in risk for reading this post, worry not, the paradox has been debunked in the past years (Granted, they bring more complex terms so i stop reading as soon as my brain shuts down reading) and then again but in the list i made at the beggining we already know that there is no logic (What makes sense in Lesswrong anyway), also we saw what you did there Roko
At the end of the day Roko's Basilisk is an interesting paradox stuck in a tumbling narrative, to the point you would rather point the flaws rather than consider the question asked ¿Why we fear breaking rules? some people that listens it may even use it to rationalize their shit, after all, nothing bad will happen because what will judge me doesn't exists anyways, don't be like them, always do the right thing because while it will not ensue something good from something that exists in a con flip of chance, you are still doing something great
Me? I only believe in the Saint of Nicholas
They say he lives in an eternal white sea of cold sand, in a particular day of the year where part of the earth will replicate his home, he will come floating, getting in your home, if you behaved, he will grant you a box of happines, however if you don't your footwear will be cursed with a black rock that can burn, but of you don't believe in him, your sock will be safe, but you won't get his happy box, ¿Believe...or not?

Bakuma out
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