Compliments and Otherwise (WAS: Normal and Weird)

From: Eliezer S. Yudkowsky (sentience@pobox.com)
Date: Sat May 06 2000 - 20:21:59 MDT


Some other things that have been said:

"This site will either provoke complete disbelief or total paranoia."
        -- Steven Mazabow
        - http://www.networktimes.co.za/104july99/wirescape.htm

"A psychologist could base an entire career on you alone."
        -- Bryan Moss
        
"You are either one of the greatest minds of the century or the most
articulate intellectual prankster I've ever ran across."
        -- "G.A. Pahinis" <George.Pahinis@bstdb.gr>

"Either your site is a joke or you are someone with absolutely no
conscience... If you don't mind me saying so, fuck you."
        -- Nessa

"This is the most fascinating thing I have ever read in my life."
        -- kerry

"Your ideas on 'What really matters?' are very biased... Who are you to
tell people that 'improving' the universe is what really matters?"
        -- Tim Bodea

"Someone who, if fringe, is at least not completely looney."
        -- grayleaves@hotmail.com

"I've never read a more brilliant piece in my life. I knew there was
something up with the human race. I've been asking The Question since
grade 6, and I had an idea what the answer is. This incredible piece I
just read... puts it much more clearly."
        -- Marcus van Wyk

"As one might suspect, the "answer" to which this site directs the
questioner is a rather insipid one, a "Meaning of Life FAQ" laced with
tired Extropian tropes. It suggests that people exist only to build more
intelligent machines, and to persuade these machines to embrace a
similar dogma. There's something quite sinister in AltaVista proffering
this as an answer to an online query, as if the search engine itself was
on its way to becoming William Gibson's nightmarish AI, Wintermute."
        -- FEED Daily, http://www.feedmag.com/daily/dy042799.html

        "But now I felt that Jeeves was ready for the grand daddy of all
questions. What is the meaning of life? Could he do it? Jeeves had been
quite accurate thus far but this is a question that has troubled man
since the beginning of time. My fellow readers, the result brought a
tear to my eye.
         I was directed to a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) entitled FAQ
about the meaning of life. There it was! The meaning of life broken down
into topics and subtopics so as to be easily understood by all. For
centuries man has grappled with this question and it turns out that it
can be easily broken down into a short, well organized document. Finding
this of course will only lead to a new question for mankind. What Now?"
        -- Freakzilla, "A Lazy Day with Jeeves."
        - http://www.freakzilla.net/archive/stories/99/09/jeeves.html

--

>From a Web poll on the TMOL FAQ:

"What was your reaction to this Web site?"

This page changed my life. (28) 7% I'm satisfied this is the real Meaning of Life. (12) 3% I'm glad I read this page. (114) 30% I don't believe a word of it. (16) 4% This is terribly depressing; you ruined my day. (31) 8% I already know the Meaning and this isn't it. (75) 20% Yawn. (57) 15% This page was too technical. Speak English! (45) 12%

Total Votes: 378 -- sentience@pobox.com Eliezer S. Yudkowsky http://pobox.com/~sentience/beyond.html Member, Extropy Institute Senior Associate, Foresight Institute



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