From: John Grigg (starman2100@lycos.com)
Date: Thu Nov 07 2002 - 16:30:00 MST
Hal Finney wrote:
I know you have rejected this advice in the past, but you should consider going to school and getting a degree. This will give you more credibility and ultimately make it easier to get funding. Drexler had to do the same thing. Sadly, credentials are often more important than quality of ideas when you are trying to get taken seriously.
(end)
If Eliezer continues to be deadset against formally attending college, could he perhaps be allowed into an elite university A.I. research program based on his writings? Would Ralph Merkle, Hans Moravec or Marvin Minsky be open to taking him on? ExI should afford him the connections to get a fighting chance at such a thing.
he continued:
I realize that this may seem like a detour if you are still holding
to a goal of 2008 for the Singularity, but that date has never seemed
credible to me.
(end)
Eliezer would no longer even be considered a "newly minted" Ph.d by the time the singularity comes along. I think his fear may be that while he is toiling away in college someone else comes up with the sort of developments he hopes to do himself. That would certainly hurt like crazy.
Lee Daniel Crocker wrote:
>Do you, or does anyone else on this list, have experience with
>alternative-but-accredited-and-generally-respectable outfits like
>University of Pheonix, or Excelsior College (formerly Regents
>University of New York) that seem to offer more tolerable shortcuts
>to sheepskin? Can they really shorten the process considerably,
>and are they worth the costs?
(end)
I have heard degrees earned online(at a reputable university) are considered quite solid now. And considering what a focused person Eliezer is, I could see him achieving his degrees in record time. The problem is that to my knowledge there are no online doctoral programs for A.I. studies!
"Where there's a will there's a way."
Eliezer sure has the raw talent needed.
best wishes,
John
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