Alex Future Bokov wrote:
>
> Perhaps the difference between an Extropian and a New Ager is that both
> score high on Eliezer's Shock Level scale, but the New Ager doesn't
> have ver fanciful thinking counterbalanced by the discipline of
> rational, critical thinking.
Actually, the original Shock Level was supposed to measure what you could take
in stride, not what you knew about. It was supposed to measure what *didn't*
shock you anymore. At SL2 you're supposed to think about SL2-level
technologies like galactic exploration without turning a hair. By this
measure, New Agers are somewhere around SL -3 since they can still be
impressed by pyramids.
The flip side is that just about everyone seems to be using Shock Levels to
describe what people are fascinated by, rather than what they can take in
stride. I generally accept the sovereignty of the audience on that sort of
thing, so I should probably revise the document accordingly. One of these
days.
-- -- -- -- --
Eliezer S. Yudkowsky http://singinst.org/
Research Fellow, Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence
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